Mass Effect 2: The Sleeping Soldier
by NeoNazo356
Summary: DISCONTINUED: Story overhauled by Dr1ft3r0I in the story "Red vs Blue vs Saren"
1. Anomaly Detected

At that moment, the Normandy had just flown through the Omega Cluster's Mass Relay, and had just dropped out of light speed just beside the Mass Relay into the Osun system in the Hourglass Nebula. From that point, the Normandy would head to the Blue Suns-owned prison ship, the Purgatory, in order to recruit a person by the name of Jack, who was supposedly the most powerful human biotic in the galaxy.

However, a familiar synthetic voice met his ears as the ship approached the prison frigate, drawing his attention away from the Galaxy Map.

"_Shepard. I have detected something on the Normandy's scanners," _EDI stated as she appeared from the console beside the Galaxy Map. _"While in design, it appears to be a frigate-class ship, it's mass is inconsistent with that of all currently-listed frigates."_

"Is there any possibility it could be a Collector ship?" Shepard asked.

"_I am afraid I would require more data to give you a proper answer," _EDI asked. _"I have calculated the ship's current trajectory. If left on its own, it will drift into the gravitational field of Osun's sun within four standard Earth hours. At that point, it would be too dangerous to approach the ship."_

Shepard rubbed his chin in thought. The fact that the design and mass were both inconsistent with most frigate-class ships was a bit unnerving, and the fact that it either could or couldn't be a Collector ship pulled at his mind. It would also be bad if they were somehow trapped inside, and the unknown frigate drifted into the sun with them in it.

"Shepard, it's your call," Joker said from the cockpit.

Shepard looked at the holographic image of the unknown frigate hanging in space, the ship completely dead from what he could see. On the one hand, he could just pass it and save himself the trouble of scouring the entire ship when he could be securing Jack's assistance in his mission, but then that would mean condemning any potential "sleepers" aboard to a fiery fate within the next five hours.

It wasn't _completely _out of their way, however it would take considerable time to change course and head for the frigate, search it before it got too close to Osun's sun, and then head to Purgatory.

"EDI. Plot the fastest course," Shepard instructed. "There could still be people inside it, and I won't leave them in there to burn." _**Paragon Action.**_

"_Of course Shepard. ETA counted at 50 minutes," _EDI replied. That meant that once they got there, he'd have less then three hours to search the ship before it drifted too close to the system's sun.

"Alright then. Tell Jacob and Garrus to meet me at the shuttle in a half hour," Shepard instructed. "Dr. Mordin and Miranda will stay behind just in case there's an ambush."

"_Acknowledged," _EDI replied as she retreated back into the ship.

* * *

After going up to his private quarters, Shepard sent a quick message to The Illusive Man, saying he'd be making a quick detour before picking up Jack from Purgatory. Before he could receive a reply message asking as for what reason, Shepard went to his armor locker and brought out a white set of armor bearing red streaks. The armor components consisted of the Umbra Visor, Capacitor chest plate, Amplifier shoulder plates, Off-Hand Ammo Pack gauntlets, and the Stimulator Conduit greaves.

After that and a brief rest, he headed down the elevator, meeting up with Dr. Mordin, and then Garrus before dropping down into the cargo bay where the Normany's shuttle was stationed.

"So Shep. Mind telling us where we're headed?" Jacob asked as he checked his Assault Rifle.

"We're going on a search and rescue mission," Shepard answered as he checked his weapons, Garrus doing the same. "We go in, check for survivors, and then leave. Got it."

"Got it," the two replied.

**

* * *

****While this chapter may've been short, it was mainly to establish the deviation in plot from the standard Mass Effect 2. Who/whatever is on the downed frigate will remain a mystery to all but the most astute readers.**

**Note:  
This story's Shepard (Male) will be mostly Paragon. In what proportions, I have yet to reveal. He will be referred to as Shepard.  
****The armor he is using is the preferred armor pieces I'd assembled myself in ME 2, which I found the most useful since I didn't have access to the items provided in the Aegis Pack.  
****Shepard's character profile (the one I myself used in Mass Effect 1) was that Shepard was a Colonist, and became a War Hero. His combat class is Soldier.**

**At the moment, Shepard has already recruited Dr. Mordin and Garrus onto the Normandy (Miranda and Jacob already being there) from Omega in the Omega Cluster, leaving Jack (to be recruited in a few chapters), Grunt, Tali, Legion, Thane, and Samara un-recruited as of yet. The order is not illustrated here.**

**As for Kasumi (The Thief) and Zaeed (The Mercenary) -the optional characters available through the XBOX 360's Cerberus Network-, I will be placing a Poll up on my profile considering all possible options concerning whether one, both, or neither of them will be included in this story.**

**The later explanation will be that The Illusive Man (who will from this point on be referred to as TIM) will have **_**just**_** gotten the contract(s) with them agreed upon (provided votes are posted on the Poll).**


	2. Unknown Frigate

"_Shepard. We have now approached the unidentified frigate," _EDI stated as Shepard, Garrus, and Jacob all slipped on their deep space helmets. _"I have detected that there is no atmosphere, life support, or artificial gravity systems active at this moment. Also, I have noticed something strange about the craft, now that I am able to get a more complete scan."_

"What is it?"

"_The reason that the ship's mass is inconsistent with that of all classified frigates: The ship itself seems to have been cut in half by some form of energy weapon, or by another cause that I am not yet able to determine."_

"Cut in half? What weapon's powerful enough to cut a whole frigate in_ two_?" Jacob asked.

"Shepard, are you sure I was the right person to call for this mission," Garrus asked. "I may be fully recovered and all, but I don't think a sniper rifle will do much good in a frigate's confined spaces."

"_At this moment, I have not detected any life signatures within the craft," _EDI spoke up. _"However, I am not at the moment able to determine if whether or not there are crew members in cryogenic stasis as of yet."_

"Okay EDI. Let us out," Shepard said as he took control of the shuttle. After a few seconds, the cargo hold was pressurized, and the doors were opened, the shuttle flying out and into the darkness of space.

* * *

As Shepard drove the shuttle further and further away from the Normandy, Osun's sun shining in the distance, he finally came within the shadow of the frigate, turning his head to the right. The dead frigate itself was clearly not Alliance. It's design was square and bulky, hardly like the sleek and aerodynamic designs of Alliance frigates. Or any known frigate for that matter.

It also didn't have the look of a Collector ship, so that itself relieved him a little. However, when he steered the shuttle around the ship's "bow", he got quite the surprise.

As EDI had said, the frigate was cut clean in half, what looked like only the back half remaining, the rooms open-spaced where the ship had been sliced. Also, it didn't appear to have been separated from its other half by a plasma cannon or some form of explosive either. It was like someone took a hot knife to it and just sliced it at the middle like it were a stick of lukewarm butter.

"Shepard. I see an opening on one of the frigate's lower floors that looks like the remains of a hangar," Jacob said as he looked at the data he was receiving from his Omni-Tool. "We can park there."

"Okay. When we get inside, we'll go as a group, but then split off into two," Shepard stated as he brought the shuttle around. "You and Garrus will be in one team. I'll look around the ship on my own. If we don't find anything within the hour, then we'll call it quits. I don't want to press our luck on this mission."

"Roger," Garrus replied as he slipped his helmet on, a hissing sound issuing from its pressurization sequence.

* * *

When Shepard's group entered the ship, using the grooves in the walls, floor, and ceiling as handholds and footholds, they immediately knew that no one had been active in that ship for a long time. There also wasn't that much internal damage, so the ship hadn't been assaulted by space pirates either.

However, what concerned them the most was that there were no recognizable symbols. There was the occasional **USNC **emblem, but none of them were familiar with any unit that used that symbol.

After twenty minutes of checking the halls and rooms with their helmet's lights, the zero gravity environment making movement through the vessel seemingly effortless, the group split into two, Shepard taking the middle floors, while Garrus and Jacob took the upper floors.

From that point forward, 35 minutes had passed, making that the 55 minute mark, and so far neither party had found anything. No bodies, no equipment, and oddly enough no Element Zero signatures near what looked like the engine room, so either the ship didn't run on Ez, which was considered impossible in that day and age, or the frigate had simply been drifting through space so long that the EZ had eroded away completely due to its half-life when not subjected to an electric current. Though for that to be the case, it would've had to be laying out unused for a very long time.

"_Shepard, I'm not finding anything in this can," _Garrus spoke over the radio. _"I think it's safe to assume that this ship has been completely empty for a long time."_

"_We should head back to the ship and get to Purgatory," _Jacob added. _"The Illusive Man can't keep the prisoner negotiations open forever. For all we know, someone could've taken Jack before us."_

"I'm going to check this last hall, and then I'll meet you at the shuttle, is that understood?" Shepard asked.

"_Yes commander," _the two voices said before the radio transmission cut off.

After cutting off the link, Shepard sighed as he grabbed a part of the ceiling, stopping his movement as he looked around. The path veered off to the right from its straight-forward bath, and after a minute of debate, Shepard pushed himself off of the adjacent wall and sent himself sailing down the right hall.

As he floated down the empty space, swerving his head from left to right and letting his lights illuminate the area, he caught a flash of gold in the corner of his eye, causing him to reach up to the ceiling and stop himself as he turned himself around.

As he settled himself down onto the floor, he quickly activated the magnets in his boots and activate the comm link. "Guys. Get over to the fourth level. I think I've found something," Shepard instructed as he scanned a cryogenic stasis pod on the wall in front of him.

Inside the chamber appeared to be a humanoid figure donned from head to toe in red armor with a black under-armor beneath it, the armor itself hardly smooth or streamlined like conventional models used. The armor itself covered the chest, shoulders, arms, the back of the hands, the waist and groin, legs, and feet. Though the ice on the inside had crept up to around a face-sized hole at the top, he was able to see the helmet's segmented golden visor looking back at him, a metal brim right above.

* * *

After five minutes of navigating their way through the empty frigate, both Jacob and Garrus floated down the dark hallway before activating the magnets in their own boots, settling themselves down onto the floor as they looked at what Shepard was seeing.

"So, we search this whole ship top to bottom, and this is the only trace of life we find," Garrus stated as he looked at the pod, minding the raised metal pedestal linked to the pod a yard in front of it.

"I've looked around this ship quite a bit, and there doesn't appear to be any sign of a struggle," Jacob said as he looked around the ship. "It doesn't really looked like this ship was attacked by something that could slice as ship in half."

"All I can say for certain is that the only person with any answers might to be the person in this tank," Shepard said putting his hand on the side of it. At that moment he noticed an assault rifle-like weapon that he hadn't seen before set into a specially designed weapon holder.

However before he could examine the weapon further, the pedestal in front of the stasis pod suddenly lit up, a dim orange light rising out of the top, catching the three off guard.

For a moment the small pillar of light continued to shine, but then it suddenly collapsed on itself, the pedestal now glowing a light shade of blue as a small orange-colored humanoid figure, probably six inches in height, rose up, and oddly enough, stretched its arms and yawned. The small figure itself appeared to be a human girl in her teenage years, the dark orange "grooves" between light orange "plates" reminding him of the VIs he'd seen on his travels. She was "tall" with a slender build, and her hair was going past her shoulders.

After the VI-like figure looked around for a minute, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she finally registered their presence and acted like she was shocked, but at the same time relieved.

"_Ah! Humans! __Finally, I thought no one would ever find us,"_ the small VI-like figure said in relief.

"Um, excuse me, I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy, and these are my crewmates Jacob Taylor and Garrus Vakarian," Shepard said introducing them. "We found this frigate drifting through the Osun star system, and we boarded to see if there were any survivors. Are you two the only ones here?"

"Ah! That's right! Emil! I need to see if he's still there!" the small figure suddenly cried as she jumped off of the harness and onto the stasis pod, looking through a gap in the frost lining the inside of the pod. After a moment, she leapt back onto the pedestal and looked Shepard right in the eye.

"_Shep- I mean Commander, can you please bring my friend's cryogenic stasis pod onto whatever ship you used to get here?"_ she pleaded with clasped hands. _"He's been in that thing for more years then I dare to count, and I'm afraid he's been in there too long."_

"Shepard, you can't seriously considering listening to a teenage VI on a dead frigate are you?" Jacob asked turning Shepard away from the pedestal. "For all we know, she could be a rogue AI trying to get herself into our ship."

"But then why keep someone alive if you think _she _caused all this?" Shepard asked.

"_I heard that! And I swear I won't try anything," _she stated, changing from angry to concerned mid-sentence. _"Look, you can do whatever you want to _me_, but please, please help Emil wake up. I'm afraid he may not be _able _to anymore__."_

Shepard looked from the small figure to the pod, and then to the capsule on the wall, moving in front of it and seeing the gold visor that caught his eye looking back at him. Had he not seen it, he would've left the ship and never known that he'd be condemning another sentient lifeform to a fiery death, whom he assumed was human if the shape of his VI had anything to do with it.

"Mordin. What procedure would you recommend at this point," Shepard asked into the radio, contacting the salarian doctor. _**Paragon Action.**_

"_Safest course of action for the one inside would be to bring the capsule itself to the ship,"_ Mordin answered. _"First, check for vital signs, then, isolate the capsule. Afterwards, separate it from the wall and load it into your shuttle. It would be too dangerous to remove whoever's in there from cryogenic stasis unless he's in a more secure environment."_

"Acknowledged," Shepard said as he cut off the comm link, then looked at the small figure on the pedestal, who at the moment was dangling her feet over the edge like a child. "I can guess from what you said that the person's name is Emil. Do _you _have a name or some form of identification?"

"_First, thanks for helping us, I don't think we would've ever had another chance," _the VI replied. _"Second, my name is Wynonna. I'm the partner AI for my friend Neal."_

"AI! Shepard, you have to leave this thing here," Garrus said as he brought out his pistol and aimed it at the pedestal, much to Wynonna's shock as she threw herself over the edge of the pedestal and peeked over the side of it in fear. "You know very well that AI are illega. If that thing takes over the ship, then everyone aboard could be killed."

"Now hold on Garrus, EDI is an AI too, and she hasn't done anything to try and hurt anyone," Jacob said trying to calm the turrian down.

"That's because she's bound by multiple protocols and firewalls within the ship," Garrus responded. "For all we know, this thing could be the reason that no one is even _on _this thing."

"_Um, listen, if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you carry me onto your ship in my Data Crystal Chip,"_ Wynonna said, still peaking over the edge of her pedestal. _"In that state, I'm completely isolated from outside computer systems, and I'll be limited to it until you decide what to do with my friend and I."_

Shepard stared at the _A_I in front of him, then came to a decision. "Fine. I'll hold onto this Data Crystal Chip of yours, but if you try anything, we're going to have you deleted by our ship's AI. Do I make myself clear?" _**Renegade Action.**_

"_Transparent sir," _Wynonna sighed in relief with a slight bow.

Shepard sighed as he walked over to the side of the tank before contacting the Normandy again as he scanned the construct with his Omni-Tool. "EDI, how would I _isolate _the capsule like Mordin instructed?"

* * *

After a lengthy explanation from both EDI and Miranda, Shepard's group was able to isolate the cryogenic stasis capsule from the ship's wall, making sure to not let it bump into any walls as they brought it back.

Wynonna told Shepard that in the pedestal's drive was the computer chip that housed her, the reason she was hooked up to the pedestal was because Emil had asked her to monitor him while he was in stasis.

When Shepard opened the drive, a small green-tinted octagonal computer ship came out. After placing it on a pocket on the side of his armor, he made sure the weapon held on the side of the capsule was secured as he and the others moved the capsule back to the shuttle. For all he knew it may've held sentimental value to whoever was inside.

After a quick pickup, the artificial gravity in the cargo hold was disengaged, the three of them setting the capsule against a wall as the cargo bay doors closed. Once they'd settled it as close to the ground as they could, Shepard signaled for the gravity to be turned back on.

However, when that happened, the capsule settled itself onto the floor with a low thud, meaning that either the capsule itself weighed more than it thought, or the person _inside _was heavier than he looked.

After doing that, Shepard had Mordin secure Wynonna's Data Crystal Chip in the Tech Lab until he knew more details, EDI setting up firewalls around he lab and preparing to resist any potential hacking attemps.

While Shepard would go to the Purgatory to bail out Jack, he asked Mordin to make sure their _guest _was in good health, and if whether or not he's suffered any side effects.

As he headed up to his quarters, he spoke into the elevator's console. "EDI. How long until we reach the Purgatory?"

"_ETA calculated at four hours," _EDI responded. _"I would recommend taking a short rest before picking up Jack."_

As Shepard laid himself down on his bed, he sighed to himself as he started removing the components of his armor as he set his head down into his pillow.

_Well, I managed to get whoever is in that capsule out in one piece. I still don't know who that frigate belongs too, but hopefully EDI can get something out of the scans she took_, Shepard thought to himself. _The presence of an additional AI may raise some problems, but at the very least, having one more person on this ship shouldn't be too much trouble._

If he had known how wrong that statement was, he may've almost been tempted to _leave _Emil on the doomed frigate.

* * *

**Sorry about paraphrasing the last half of this chapter or so, but it seemed like the kind of thing that should be paraphrased at the time.**

**The character in the tank is an OC (as is his partner AI). If you recognize the type of build that the character's premise is designed under, him being in the ME universe when he comes from **_**that **_**universe will be explained in future chapters.**

**Possibly the next chapter, but I'm not completely sure at the moment.**

**Anyway, keep reading, and please Review.**


	3. Tales of a Distant Past

**This chapter is clearly much longer than both the first and second chapter combined, so if you intend to read this from one end to the other, have a snack or beverage handy. This could take a while.**

**Warning: Accidental damaging of computer due to spilled beverage falls on the hands of the one who used said beverage in the first place.**

**

* * *

**

As the Normandy approached the prison ship Purgatory, Shepard left their _guest_, Emil, under Dr. Mordin's care for the time being. Because the subject had potentially been in cryogenic stasis for longer than was recommended for that model of stasis pod -currently dissimilar to any model of stasis pod out today-, the best way to wake Emil up without causing his body to go into shock would have to be determined after much physical examinations.

Fortunately, they had one of the best doctors in the galaxy, and hopefully their guest didn't have any brain damage for being _on ice _for so long.

Later, after a brief chat with Joker, who at the point made a _Sleeping Beauty _joke, he asked EDI if the AI Wynonna had attempted to force her way into the ship's systems even after the warning he'd given her. However, the answer he got actually surprised him, it seemed that she was doing quite the opposite, as she had actually _asked _EDI if she could watch over Emil's capsule from the cargo bay until Shepard decided to wake him up, a genuine hint of concern in her voice if the AI's account was anything to go by.

Oddly enough, EDI complied, which made Shepard wonder if the two AIs would develop a sister-to-sister relationship, should the new AI not prove to be a problem.

However, he cast those thoughts aside as he prepared for the next mission, which had to be slightly delayed due to the previous circumstance. Dr. Chakwas had asked Garrus to come into the Med Bay to make sure that last mission hadn't strained his injuries, and with Dr. Mordin watching _Sleeping Beauty_, the only options left were for him to bring Miranda and Jacob.

Truthfully, Jacob was perfectly alright in his book. Miranda however, after that whole "control chip" comment when they first met, it would take a while until she completely had his trust.

As their shuttle approached the Purgatory, he wondered if whether or not Jack was in a sound enough state of mind for a suicide mission, but after realizing that everyone he associated with was a little bit insane in their own special way –their mind's way of coping with what they had to do-, the state of mind thing wasn't listed as a non-issue.

* * *

At that moment, while Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob boarded the Purgatory, Dr. Mordin had brought some of his monitoring equipment from his lab down into the hangar.

After moving a few crates around the stasis pod, the corner of the cargo hold looked eerily similar to the lab he had on the second level.

For about the first half hour, Dr. Mordin use his Omni-Tool and various other pieces of equipment to scan and monitor all of Emil's vitals; Body temp, heart rate, pulse, respiration, brain activity-

"_So… How is he?" _a synthetic voice suddenly asked from behind him.

Dr. Mordin turned around and saw the orange-tinted AI sitting on one of the crates. How she projected herself outside of a console was still a mystery to him. Maybe she generated an avatar from one of the ship's consoles and used the electromagnetic waves in the air to move about, but that area wasn't exactly his expertise.

"Emil? He's fine. Been asleep for a while though. _How_ long though? Said you were monitoring him?" Dr. Mordin asked.

"_Well… Um… If my calculations are correct…" _Wynonna replied nervously, rubbing her arm as she tried to find an answer. _"Ten… Twelve…"_

"Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?" Dr. Mordin asked in quick succession. "Quickly now. Any information would be a big help."

"_Thousand years," _Wynonna answered.

At that moment, Dr. Mordin, the salarian doctor, was struck utterly and completely speechless.

"_Hello? Helloooo?" _Wynonna called as she waver her arms in front of the stunned doctor's eyes. _"Um… EDI, did I break the salamander guy?"_

"_No. It appears your statement may have caused his brain to stall," _EDI answered.

"_Oh boy," _Wynonna moaned as she looked over the doctor's shoulder and into the stasis capsule. _"I hope this doesn't affect Emil too much. I don't think his body can handle being asleep for too much longer."_

* * *

For Shepard, he's used to thing not always going according to plan.

Having his friends, family, and neighbors taken by slavers as a child.

Having to hold off an entire platoon of batarians in the Skyllian Blitz by himself.

Being locked in a mine shaft with an active nuke right next to him because of some crazy nutjob who _caused _the Skyllian Blitz.

Contemplating whether or not to free the Rachni queen at Peak 15 on Noveria, which in the end he did.

Fighting his way through brainwashed colonists and having to kill a freaky plant thing -that didn't even _remotely _look like a plant- without hurting too many of them too badly.

Oh, and his _favorite_. Getting spaced, turned into charcoal from atmospheric re-entry, and having to be rebuilt from the ground up by the organization that had caused him and so many others so much grief the first time around as a Spectre.

But when _this _happened, well, Shepard should've seen it coming, but in the end wasn't actually _expecting _things to go his way without there being some sort of catch.

"_My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer,"_ Warden Kuril spoke over the intercom as the door Shepard had opened led to a prison module. _"Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."_

"You talked up your noble intentions with this prison," Shepard answered. "But it turns out you're a criminal like the rest."

"_Activate systems!" _Kuril ordered over the intercom. Seconds later, mechs started marching into the room.

Naturally, Shepard brought out his assault rifle and set the Disruptor Rounds. "I figured something like this would've happened," he sighed to himself as he took aim, pulling the trigger a second later.

* * *

After around a half hour to an hour of running around the doomed ship, killing any guards or escaped prisoner that tried to take their weapons, and after a long conflict took out the turrian warden,the leaving party with Jack in tow got back to the Normandy right as the ship began to drift into the abyss.

Once Shepard got back onto the Normandy, having asked Jack how she was acclimating to the ship, and if she'd found anything about herself in Cerberus' files, he headed down to the cargo hold to see how their other guest was doing.

"So Dr. Mordin, can you tell me anything about our guest?" Shepard asked as he approached the Salarian doctor.

"This subject's physiology is most fascinating," Mordin answered excitedly. "The manner in which the augmentation procedures have been arranged throughout his physiology are unlike anything I've ever seen before." Seemd he'd gotten over the initial shock of how long Emil had been asleep pretty quickly. Not much choice there.

"Augmentations?" Shepard asked as he looked from the person in the tank to the doctor. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Advanced material grafting onto his skeletal structure to make bones unbreakable, special protein solutions injected intramuscularly to increase tissue density and decrease lactose recovery time, platinum pellets containing growth catalyst into thyroid to increase growth of skeletal and muscular tissues, boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of the retina, and alteration of bioelectrical nerve transduction causing 300% increase in all reflexes along with increased intelligence, memory, and creativity," Dr. Mordin answered with a clearly fascinated tone. "Exact methods of application, not clear with current analysis, but in opinion, he'd be more than a match for any Collector, provided he's properly armed."

"That's certainly… a mouthful…" Shepard said slowly, somehow feeling a little inferior in the face of all these augmentations. Of course, that was only because he didn't know exactly what went into himself when Cerberus rebuilt him.

"If you think _that's _fascinating, just wait until I tell you about his Nerual Interface," Dr. Mordin said excitedly.

"Wait wait, Nerual Interface?" Shepard asked trying to collect his thoughts. "Is this the same thing as that control chip Miranda wanted to install in my head?"

"Oh, no. Much more advanced. More beneficial as well. Less sloppy, however more time-consuming to integrate," Dr. Mordin answered. "It seems that a socket installed into the back of his skull allows for his AI to directly interface with both his armor and central nervous system. In theory, she should be capable of significantly improving the speed of neural signals throughout his body and to his armor, increasing his reaction time beyond that of normal humans. If calculations accurate, down to twenty milliseconds. Much faster than current fastest human reaction time up to date. Body could prove useful if allowed to more thoroughly study."

"_Hey, I may be just an AI, but that doesn't mean I want you putting my friend on a slab with his guts thrown into jars," _Wynonna hissed at the salarian as she sat defensively on the capsule, her body turning red for a few seconds before returning to its original orange.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Doctor's oath. Completely unethical to do otherwise," Dr. Mordin answered, trying to allay the AI's concerns.

"And let me guess. That armor he's wearing generates energy shielding, magnifies physical strength to unprecedented degrees, and has magnetic weapon holder clips along with a bunch of other upgrades I have yet to mention?" Shepard asked sarcastically.

"Of course. But how did you know?" Dr. Mordin asked, causing Shepard to slap his own forehead.

_That was asked sarcastically, but okay, _Shepard sighed.

"The technology in this armor is so diversified and advanced, for a minute I thought he was an experimental Cerberus construct," Dr. Mordin continued. "Some of these upgrades haven't even been revealed to the scientific community yet, or have not begun development at all."

"Do you think you could reverse-engineer some of this technology then?" Shepard asked. "You know, improve _our _armor? Maybe some augmentations as well?"

"_Shouldn't you ask his _consent _before you ask to dissect his armor?" _Wynonna asked as she poked her head out from behind Dr. Mordin's shoulder, her cheeks puffed out angrily. _"Also! Didn't we just go over this five seconds ago?"_

"That aside," he said trying to ignore the chatty AI. "Is he ready to wake up?"

"Wake up? Oh most certainly," Dr. Mordin replied. "Body has been fully stabilized to prevent shock. You're free to wake him whenever you feel is appropriate."

"Hmmmm…" Shepard sighed as he looked at the tank. "Does he know we're out here? Does he know what's going on outside that pod?"

"_That would be a negative. Due to the fact that his body's processes have been slowed to 1/1,000,000 normal speeds, he is in a state equivalent to a coma," _EDI answered. _"From data that Dr. Mordin has provided, it would be safe to say that he may experience, nausea, drowsiness, aversion to direct sunlight, and any number of conditions due to Hibernation Sickness."_

Shepard sighed as he straightened the collar on his uniform before stepping in front of the capsule. "Dr. Mordin, EDI, I'm waking him up. Remain on standby in case things don't go according to plan." _I certainly know what _that _feels like, _he thought to himself.

"Acknowledged," both Dr. Mordin and EDI replied.

With that said, the capsule began to hiss as steam was being let out from seams in the capsule, the pressure equalizing to acceptable levels between the inside and the outside of the capsule.

As the temperature inside the pod began to steadily increase, the ice on the inside of the glass pane melting back into water, Shepard saw something he wasn't expecting from someone who had been in cryogenic stasis.

Emil, as he was called, appeared to have not only a grey pistol on his left hip from the time he went asleep, but also seemed to have a large shoulder-mounted weapon on his back. The reason that was odd was because normally people who went into cryogenic stasis removed all weapons from their person so that they did not fall asleep in any awkward conditions.

The pistol itself was unique in design. At the back, where he suspected the ammunition was loaded into, the barrel was thin, however it got wider towards the front, it appeared that what appeared to be two laser scopes were mounted in where the recoil mechanism was thought to be housed. The handle was longer than on most guns, which Shepard believed was due to the fact that if this were a standard-issued weapon, that some of those holding it may've worn gloves that would require bigger handles.

The shoulder-mounted weapon itself was close to 40 inches in length, and was an old militant green color. While the energy cell loading chamber and battery conduit were located at the back, the weapon appeared to also split horizontally at the front, meaning that the weapons' barrel was hidden inside it until the weapon was fired. Halfway down the weapon and forward were two sets of black-armored handles, the back serving as the trigger.

On his right hip appeared to be some kind of dull silver handle with a point at the center, and two bulbs on the ends. His guess was just as good as anyone else's as to whether it has a hacking tool, or just a bludgeoning weapon.

At that point, he looked onto the side of the capsule to the oddly-designed assault rifle. The weapon appeared to have a pump-action mechanism, which may've been used for reloading purposes, and in addition to the gun barrel on the top behind the somewhat aerodynamically-designed gun chassis, another barrel was placed below, however its purpose on the gun itself was unknown. Based on the design of the weapon's back end, it would seem that you'd hold the weapon against your shoulder, and use the trigger with your dominant hand while you kept the weapon level with the other.

When the pod opened fully, the figure appeared to regain his bearings and stepped out of the pod, making a low thud that matched when the pod itself was dropped once the artificial gravity was turned back on. The figure stood about a half-head above him in regards to height, and was similar of build. However, after a few seconds, he fell to his knees as his legs suddenly gave out from under him.

"This would be the disorientation running its course," Dr. Mordin stated from beside a few crates. "Always the most difficult part of recovering from hibernation sickness. Also the most awkward."

"Ooooogh," Emil groaned as his body waved from side to side as he tried to keep his body from falling flat out onto the floor.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Shepard asked as he walked toward the kneeling figure, hoping he wasn't too disoriented from being in the stasis pod.

After a few minutes, Shepard waiting for some form of response, Emil's body tensed before he leapt up from the floor, grabbing Shepard by the collar and sending him to the floor with a low crash. Before Shepard knew what was going on, what appeared to be two light blue energy blades were pointed directly at his face, the odd-looking handle from earlier being the source as the red-armored figure stood above him.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where's my AI?" he demanded in a gruff, slightly synthetic voice as he poised the blades at his head. Whether or not is was being affected by the helmet he wore was up to debate at the moment.

"An energy sword? But that technology is still in development," Dr. Mordin stated as Shepard was feeling like his body was _literally _being crushed under the Emil's weight. "Only prototypes in circulation now, and nowhere near that size," he added as he commented on the size of the blade, seemingly preoccupied with his thoughts. "At this point only the size of the small blade on a pocket knife. One to one and a half inches the maximum at the moment. Even then, not nearly ready enough for surgical or combat application."

" _. . . Dude, you need to get out more," _Wynonna sighed from atop one of the crates at his side.

"I'll only repeat myself once more. Who are you? Where am I? Where is my AI?" Emil demanded, bringing the blade steadily closer to Shepard's left eye, causing him to close it as he felt the heat radiating from the heated blade.

"I'm Commander Shepard, captain of Normandy, the frigate on which you are aboard, and your AI is being housed in the ship's tech lab," Shepard answered, not particularly enjoying having his rib cage crushed and the left side of his face scorched.

Things were tense for a few minutes, but eventually, Emil lifted himself to full height, once again pulling Shepard up by his collar. He himself took the time to fill his lungs with much needed oxygen, as his rib cage was nearly crushed under Emil's weight.

"I apologize. When I saw how my surrounding had changed, I thought I might've been on a Covenant dreadnought," Emil answered as the energy blade disappeared, placing the handle onto his right hip.

"Covenant?" Shepard asked suspiciously.

"_Emil! Oh thank god you're awake!" _Wynonna cried as she flew over to him and hugged the side of his visor.

"Wynonna, it's good to see you again," Emil stated as he held out his arm, Wynonna resettling herself on it like a hawk would. "How long was I asleep? What year is it? Has The Flood been stopped?"

"_Well, um… I'll be able to fill you in better once you retrieve my Crystal Data Chip," _Wynonna answered awkwardly. _"My processing powers are kinda limited right now. Firewalls. Girl's worst nightmare," _she said nervously, her body _literally _turning a bright shade of pink for a few seconds.

Neal nodded in recognition before turning to Shepard. "You said my AI was being housed in the tech lab. Would you take me there. I need some details filled in. My head's a bit fuzzy right now."

"Right this way," Shepard answered, guiding the red-armored soldier toward the elevator.

* * *

Shepard and Emil entered the tech lab soon after. A good deal of equipment had been moved to the cargo hold, so at the moment the only prominent pieces of equipment in there were the one holding the Collector swarm bug in its tank for study, and the mechanism keeping the AI Wynonna isolated from anything major in the ship's systems.

"So where is she?" Emil asked.

"Right over here," Shepard said as he directed Emil to a corner of the room.

When they got there, Emil just looked at the odd-looking mechanism that kept his AI isolated. It basically looked like a metal base like the pedestal on the frigate, but had what looked like a blue forcefield over it. Sitting in the center was the Data Crystal Chip.

"Wynonna, you in there?" Emil asked.

Wynonna appeared a moment later, standing atop the chip as she stretched her arms. _"Thanks for coming up. While it's nice in here, I prefer the slot in your head better."_

That statement itself confused Shepard until Emil bent his neck forward the DCC in his hand as he brought it to the back of his neck. He then remembered what Dr. Mordin had told him about Emil's neural interface. How it allowed Wynonna to link to both the suit and Emil's mind as well, though he figured it must've been dangerous to install.

"You shouldn't really get so attached to the holes in my head," Emil sighed as he inserted the chip though the slot in the back of his helmet and into the slot at the base of his skull.

"_Awwww, but it's so cozy in here," _Wynonna cooed playfully, causing Shepard to wonder if an AI acting this _human_ was good thing or a bad thing.

After stretching his neck a few times and popping his back, Shepard spoke up as the red-armored soldier began stretching his legs.

"By the way, could you tell me about your weapons?" Shepard asked. "To tell you the truth, I haven't seen anything like them before. Well, I've seen pistols and assault rifles before, but that's beside the point."

"I suppose so. I owe you that much," Emil simply nodded, and followed Shepard down the hall.

* * *

A while later -after Shepard had offered to give Emil a tour of the Normandy, the crew members giving the red-armored soldier odd-looks wherever he went-, Emil and Shepard found themselves in the armory, the prior's four weapons laid out on the table in order of size.

"I can tell that this is a pistol and this is an assault rifle, but I'm not sure what _these _are," Jacob said as he lifted the silver sword handle and hefted up the large shoulder-mounted weapon.

"Well, what you're holding right now is the handle for a Covenant Energy Sword," Emil explained as he took the silver handle in his hand and summoned the two blades with a flick of his wrist, nearly giving Jacob a heart attack since that was the first time he'd seen an energy weapon like that. "Due to the utilization of ionized gas rather than traditional shaped, solid matter, this energy weapon lacks any solid material in which to hold or impale anything. It doesn't cut in the traditional sense, but rather boils anything it comes into contact with, which allows it to pass through any type of material including the toughest metal with ease."

"What kind of injuries could one sustain if they were to be _stabbed _with this thing?" Shepard asked as he and Jacob took a step back from Emil's reach. For their own safety of course should Emil trip over a table leg or something.

"_I believe I can answer that," _Wynonna stated as she sat on Emil's shoulder. _"In layman's terms, the injuries to living creatures can range from _bad_ to _gruesome_. Stab wounds are in most cases fatal, since when the blade passes through the body, all innards are burned and cauterized by the extreme temperatures produced. Body fluids are flash vaporized upon contact, which means organs can suffer life threatening damage depending on which organ is struck, and fluids trapped in organs or arteries in addition to the expansion of heat would cause ruptures or small explosions, causing additional damage to the victim."_

"Something tells me this is right up Dr. Mordin's alley," Jacob whispered over his shoulder.

"_Survival is minimal at best, and in the case of non-vital organs being stabbed, proper medical treatment would have to be applied _immediately_ for long term survival," _Wynonna continued. _"Because of the blade's sheer destructive power, dismemberment is a common form of fatality to victims, along with decapitation to being completely sliced in half. In addition to the potential to permanently disable a victim for life, the weapon itself is feared and is known for its psychological effects on human soldiers."_

_I think I can agree with that, _Jacob thought, remembering back to his initial reaction to the glowing blade.

That being said, Emil lifted the dark green-painted weapon onto his shoulder.

"Now, this puppy right here is the Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, abbreviated W/AV M6 G/GNR, but commonly caled the Spartan Laser, or Splaser," Emil explained as he hefted the weapon over his shoulder. "It's is the only known battery-powered UNSC weapon, along with the most powerful given to infantry. It's also among the most expensive."

_UNSC. There's that abbreviation again, _Shepard thought to itself.

"When the weapon is in use, the shroud over the emitting lens of the laser lifts up to expose the barrel, the shroud itself is used to protect it from scratches, which could compromise its effectiveness and operation in the field," Emil continued. "When used, a small hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder on the left side of the barrel actuates the shroud where it is anchored to the chassis. When the trigger is pulled, a led laser sight is projected on the target. However, once the laser sight is out, a unique targeting tone is emitted, which gradually becomes louder as the weapon charges. Because the charging time is about four seconds and due to the high-pitched whine however, using this weapon for a sneak attack is next to impossible unless your enemy is deaf and doesn't notice the laser. The weapon itself is designed to be able to destroy vehicles or armored structures, but is also near-fatal against infantry."

"_However, after our last mission, there's only enough energy left in it for one more shot," _Wynonna answered. _"I have the specs for the PP-16979/AM-Sh charger to recharge its Ba-53635/PLMD non-replacable battery in my memory banks, but it may take some time to construct a new one from scratch if it comes down to it."_

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about the handgun and assault rifle," Emil stated as he brought the two weapons to attention. "The handgun would be the MG6 Pistol, and the assault rifle would be the MA5B Assault Rifle. There isn't that much special about them though. Not unlike my other two weapons," he said setting them down on the table.

Jacob was about to ask about _where _they got those weapons, but something about the handgun and the assault rifle on the table immediately drew his attention.

"Hold on. These two weapons aren't modded to use heat sinks," Jacob said as he looked the two weapons over.

"_I'm guessing that's a problem," _Wynonna said from Emil's shoulder.

"It is if you want to _use _these weapons, then yes it's a problem," Jacob answered. "While their designs appear to be perfectly sound, their technology is seriously outdated, and they'll need to be remodded in order to use heat sinks if you want to continue using them."

"That is a weapon advancement I am not familiar with?" Emil told Shepard. "What year is this exactly?"

"It's currently 2183. Why? When did you go to sleep?" Shepard asked.

" . . . In the year 2525 . . . " Emil answered nervously, not liking the answer he'd just gotten from Shepard.

"Um, no offense, but did cryogenic stasis freeze a few brain cells?" Jacob asked. "2525 isn't even _close _to happening yet."

" . . . Wynonna . . . How long have I been asleep ?" Emil asked nervously.

"_Well…" _the AI answered nervously. _"You were probably asleep around…"_

* * *

At the same time in the CIC, everyone was going about, doing their various jobs. Checking Element Zero levels, energy output, current-

"SAY _WHAT!_" a voice suddenly cried from the armory, causing nearly everyone on that floor to fall out of their seats.

"Man, check out the set of lungs on _that _guy," Joker groaned as he pulled himself back into his chair. He could've sworn he felt the ship shake with the decibels he'd put out.

"_Under normal circumstances, that previous outburst should not have breached through the wall's sound proofing," _EDI stated from her console like she were completely unaffected. _"Also, the amount of force _required_ to generate such volumes would cause temporary to permanent damage to the voice box and vocal chords."_

"Why don't you tell _him _that," Joker mumbled as he straightened his cap.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU _MEAN _I'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR NEARLY TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS?" Emil demanded, Wynonna sitting on a table and covering her ears, Shepard and Jacob doing the same as the red-armored soldier continued to rant.

"_Just calm down and I'll explain, alright?"_ Wynonna asked, giving Emil a few seconds to compose himself. _"Well, after you first went to sleep, I waited 10 years to see if anyone had found us, then 20, then 30, 40 afterwards, 50, 60, 70, 80, and after the next 90, you'd been asleep around four hundred fifty years. After my next sleeping period, it was 550 years, then 660, 780, 910, and 1050 after my fourteenth resting sequence."_

"Wynona… How many resting sequences have you gone through?" Emil asked, shock evident on his voice as he slumped to the floor on his knees.

"_Well… Um… After increasing in increments of ten for forty nine cycles, you were actually asleep for twelve thousand and two hundred _fifty _years…" _Wynonna answered.

"But wait, why didn't you just use the distress beacon?" Jacob asked. "You know? Send out a signal and get rescued?"

"_The distress beacon was sliced right in two when the slip-space bridge closed around our ship," _Wynonna answered sadly. _"The fact that you found us before we drifted into Osun's sun was the luckiest break we've had in a long time."_

"Wait a minute, something doesn't add up," Shepard said. "Nothing you've said up 'til now makes any sense. You said you were from the year 2525 which hasn't even happened yet. Also, the Covenant and the Flood aren't listed either. And now you say you've been asleep for nearly twelve _thousand _years. If what you were saying was true, then how could you be _here_ now?"

"_In theory, it may be possible that everything Emil and Wynonna have told you is in fact accurate," _EDI stated from one of the wall consoles.

"And how exactly could any of this make sense?" Jacob asked.

"_Given the fact that the ship was adrift when it came into scanner range, that there appears to be nothing wrong with the AI in question, that no records exist of a frigate registered _Forward Unto Dawn, _a human registered under the name Emil that has been reported adrift in space matching his description, and that no current records exist for the AI named Wynonna exist within current records, it would be possible that the two of them drifted from either an uncharted star system where the name Earth was used for their home planet, or, their ship drifted into the Milky Way galaxy from _another _galaxy," _EDI responded.

"Emil, I think now would be a good time to tell us exactly what you were doing before you and your AI were sent adrift," Shepard said putting a hand on Emil's shoulder as he sat slumped on the floor. "If you don't, we can't help you understand what happened."

Emil nodded as he moved to get up. Shepard offered him a hand up, but Emil simply pulled himself up with the table, nearly tipping it over in the process before he made his way to the debriefing room.

* * *

"Okay, I'm not sure how much of this will make sense to you if your ship's AI is correct," Emil started as he sat at the head of the table, Shepard and Miranda in attendance, with EDI recording this, "But if you can, save all questions for the end of this debriefing. Considering how long I've been asleep, and how long the frigate I was on has been adrift, you two are the closest ones to my commanding officers at the moment, s I'll try to make as much sense as I can."

Shepard nodded while Miranda didn't say anything. A red light shone from the console, signaling for Emil to begin.

With a sigh, Wynonna standing by in his visor should he require assistance, Emil began.

"The time was November seventeenth, 2552. A month prior, I was found alive on a planet in the outer dim. My squad had been killed off on a mission, and I wasn't able to get off the planet. After they'd reinstated me into the Spartan ranks, I was called to join Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan John-117 on a mission that could potentially bring the Human-Covenant wars to an end."

"After a quick briefing on what I had missed while I was MIA, we entered Earth's atmosphere and crash landed in an east African jungle. After being retrieved by Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson, Thel 'Vadam, and a handful of Marines, we made our way to the designated extraction point. However, Covenant forces had sighted the area beforehand, so Johnson made the strategic decision to split the group and reduce the chances of getting spotted. We eventually made out way to the extraction point, fighting off numerous Covenant troops on the way. Avery Johnson's Pelican group consisting of two Pelicans arrived, but were ambushed and shot down by Banshees. Johnson and his men were captured, but John-117, Thel 'Vadam, and I fought out way through their ranks and eventually rescued them. Afterwards, a new Pelican picked us up."

"The Pelican then brought us to Crow's Nest, a local base of operations used by the UNSC. Here, Commander Miranda Keyes and Lord Hood planned a last-ditch effort to stop the Covenant from activating a Forerunner artifact uncovered outside the ruins of the city of New Mombasa. If activated, the artifact would've activated the Halo Array, and wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy. The plan was to have John-117 and a small group of marines, myself included, punch a hole through Truth's anti-air defenses so that Lord Hood could initiate a low level air-strike on the artifact, hopefully destroying it before it could be used. However, the planning stage was interrupted when the power was cut, and the High Prophet of Truth broadcasted an announcement that our doom was inevitable. Soon after that, the Covenant Loyalists discovered the facility and mounted a heavy assault. After a brief struggle, the outpost was lost and destroyed by a bomb that John-117 had placed to cover our escape. Deep underground, John-117 regrouped with the surviving Marines and we made our way into the African City of Voi, Kenya via the Tsavo Highway. Sometime afterward, we were able to destroy the Covenant anti-air defenses, allowing Lord Hood to lead the last of Earth's military ships against Truth and the artifact. As Hood prepared to mount his attack on the Prophet, Truth activated the artifact and created an enormous slipspace portal, the Covenant ships retreating soon after."

"At the same time however, a Covenant cruiser controlled by the Flood, arrived through another slipspace portal and crashed into Voi, the parasites quickly spreading through the entire city. As the human forces attempted to fight off the infestation, many were infected by the Flood. Thankfully, the Covenant Separatists lead by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vandum, arrived and assisted the struggle against the infestation. The Elites then informed Commander Keyes that a UNSC construct was aboard the crashed Flood ship, and was identified as Cortana, John-117's own AI partner. After retrieving Coranta, he returned to the Shadow of Intent to oversee the repairs made by 343 Guilty Spark, a Forerunner Monitor left to assist sentient lifeforms. However, it was later discovered that what John-117 had retrieved was not Cortana herself, but a message from her saying that the Gravemind was coming to Earth with an army of Flood, but that on the other side of the portal was a solution to the Flood problem, without having to fire the rings. Lord Hood questioned Cortana's plan, as did I, assuming it could be a Flood trap, but John-117 firmly told us both to trust her. We may have had similar ranks, but because he was my better for several years before I had finished in the SPARTAN II program, I had no real choice but to believe him and hope he was right."

"While Lord Hood and his UNSC forces remained on Earth to defend it from the incoming Flood invasion, Commander Keyes along with John-117, myself, and the Elites, journeyed throuth the Portal. Once we arrived at the Ark, the Covenant Separatists engaged the Loyalist fleet while the UNSC launched a ground campaign. After landing on the Arc, 343 Guilty Spark, guided us to the Ark's Cartographer, the map room of the Ark, in order to locate the Control Room. In order to access it, the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists would have to deactivate three shield generators that were protecting it, which were in three separate towers. John-117, the Arbiter, and myself cleared the first two without any problems, but Johnson radioed Keyes telling her he had to retreat from the third due to a heavy enemy assault. When we got there however, Johnson and his men were nowhere to be seen. After the final shield barrier protecting the Control Room deactivated, the Flood-infested _High Charity _arrived via slipspace and crashed into the Ark, releasing Flood Dispersal Pods as it fell."

"After handling the nearby infestation, John-117 led the remaining UNSC and Sangheili forces via armored vehicles in an assault on the Citadel containing the Control Room, heavily defended by Covenant Loyalist forces. Once inside, Truth broadcast his sermon and revealed the capture of Johnson and his group. Truth had tried to force Johnson to activate the rings, but Keyes crashed into the room in a Pelican. She probably figured she couldn't kill all of the Brutes, and so, realized she'd have to kill Johnson and herself in order to prevent Halo from being activated. However, Truth killed her from behind before she could, and then placed Johnson's hand on the nearby terminal, activating the remaining Halos in the galaxy."

"As we reached the top, two Flood Tank Forms confronted us, the Gravemind using them to urge us to join forces in stopping the initiation of the Halos and Truth. With its help, we slaughtered the Covenant forces defending Truth and made our way to the final chambers. When we got to the Ark's Control Terminal, Johnson was mourning over the loss of Keyes, and Truth was partially infected by the Flood. Thel 'Vadam, after confronting Truth over the true purpose of the Halos, executed him with his energy sword as John-117 and I deactivated them. Shortly after, the Gravemind betrayed us and tried to prevent our escape, though Johnson was able to pull himself together, and we escaped using Keyes' crashed Pelican."

"We managed to escape from the Citadel via an access tunnel near the elevator we'd used earlier. Alont that pint, John-117 appeared to be experiencing hallucinations, and acted as though he were following someone to the control panel. When he activated it, he saw that the Arc was manufacturing a replacement Halo after the destruction of the previous one. Knowing that the Flood was undeniably apocalyptic, John-117 decided to activate the new Halo, however, he would need to retrieve his AI, Cortana, in order to get the Index required to activate the ring. Once retrieved, he overloaded _High Charity's _engines, destroying the Gravemeind as we made our escape from the exploding vessel in a damaged but still flyable Pelican."

"At that point, the surviving Sangheili and UNSC personell returned to Earth, leaving Sergeant Johson, John-117 with Cortana, Arbiter, and myself to make our way to the new Halo. Before we reached the control room however, Flood began arrived to stop us from activating the only weapon that could stop them. After they were destroyed, we made our way to the control room."

"Once we made our way there, we discovered that Gravemind was attempting to reconscruct itself on the new Halo. Sergeant Johnson tried to activate it before it was too late, but Guilty Spark fired a defensive laser at him after realizing that activating the weapon would destroy the installation in the process. The Monitor then turned on us and blasted the Arbiter and myself out of the control room, leaving John-117 to destroy Guilty Spark himself using the Spartan Laser he had on his back. Mortally wounded, Johnson urged John-117 to send him out "with a bang", prompting him to activate the weapon and leave him behind."

"With Halo activated, John-117, Thel 'Vadam, and myself raced towards the frigate _Forward Unto Dawn _using Johnson's Warthog. When we arrived, not as gracefully as I would've liked might I add, John-117 and Thel 'Vadam were able to reach the cockpit. I myself was pinned against a wall by some crates that had landed on me, but I told John-117 to go ahead without me, and that I'd be fine and catch up to him later. Had I known what would've happened, next, I would've kept my mouth shut ands save him some guilt."

"Afterwards, Halo shook itself to pieces upon firing, collapsing the portal over the ship as we made our escape, leaving Wynonna and myself behind. At that point, I can only guess that John-117 and the Arbiter made it back to Earth. Somehow, even though the frigate was cut in two, Wynonna and myself were still alive, though the distress beacon, like I said before, had been damaged too greatly to send out a distress signal. Afterwards, my only option was to go into cryogenic stasis, hoping someone would find us."

With a sigh, Emil sat down in his chair, the chair itself slightly groaning for some unknown reason. "Next thing I know, I'm in some unfamiliar cargo hold with you and a giant salamander alien looking over me, and that's the gist of it."

"Well… That's certainly a lot," Shepard responded, surprised that such things were happening elsewhere in the universe. "Although if I knew about the Covenant, the Forerunners, or the Flood, maybe it would make more sense to me."

"Who were the Forerunners?" Miranda was quick to ask. "If what you were saying about this Halo weapon is true, then that would put them into a similar position as the Protheans."

"Look, I don't know who these Protheans are I keep hearing about, or about any alien species in this galaxy, but all I do know is that there weren't any Mass Relay where I came from," Emil answered. "The Forerunners were an advanced alien race from what I know, but they went extinct after firing the Halo weapon system the first time if the information I'd gotten had been correct."

"What about this Flood you mentioned? Who or what are they?" Shepard asked, concerned if whether or not he'd have to worry about another race of aliens like the Reapers.

"As far as I knew, they were a parasitic race that fed on sapient beings throughout the galaxy," Emil answered. "I doubt they're a problem anymore though, since if Halo did its job, they should've all been wiped out."

"You said John-117 was a Spartan right?" Shepard asked, causing Emil to nod. "I'm guessing you're one too then."

"That's correct. My rank was Master Chief Petty Officer, my codename Spartan Emil-356. However, John-117 had been in service several years more then I had been, so even though were had the same rank, I was instructed to regard him as my superior, due to the difference in experience between us, like I had mentioned earlier," Emil answered. "If you need more information, Wynonna has it and I'm sure she'll be happy to give it to you, but for now, I'm tired, and I need to rest, so are there any more questions, or can I go to sleep now? I'm a bit exhausted from all this talking, and my head's killing me from this Hibernation Sickness."

After a few minutes, satisfied that no one was going to ask any more questions, EDI cut off the monitoring equipment and returned to the cockpit.

"If you will excuse me Commander Shepard, I have a submit to report," Miranda said as she stood from her seat and headed to her private office.

Shortly afterwards, Emil got up and left too. As Shepard got up, he thought he saw the chair that Emil had used warped a bit from the corner of his eye, but figured he must've been seeing things.

If he'd only known that Emil in the armor weighted around 1000 pounds, he would've submitted a requisition for a stronger replacement chair.

* * *

After Emil left the briefing room, Shepard went up to his own quarters to digest what he'd been told. To tell the truth, this all sounded like something out of a science fiction novel. Of course, those never sold that well after The First Contact War, and other life in the galaxy was brought to the public's eye.

After getting some sleep, he called EDI up on his console and asked about Emil. Seeing as he'd talked to Jack before waking up Emil, he needed to make sure the guy wasn't too depressed.

Once EDI told him what Emil had settled himself into the cargo hold, that was just where Shepard headed.

A few minutes later down in the cargo hold, Emil was staring out the window by his pod, the elevator dinging once it reached level.

"So Emil. How are you holding up?" Shepard asked as he came out of the elevator and into the cargo hold.

"Well… This is just a bit of a shock to me. I mean, I never expected to get rescued, but to be asleep for over twelve thousand years," Emil said with a sigh. "I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Have you ever thought about going home?" Shepard asked. "Once we're done fighting the Reapers, I'm sure we could arrange to get you a ship."

"Why? Everyone I know is dead, and I've probably been marked as KIA," Emil answered. "Plus, this is _space_. Even if I had the means to get home, I wouldn't know which direction to go, and for how long until I actually got there. For all I know, _home _isn't even there anymore. Every civilization collapses on itself eventually."

After a few moments, Shepard held out a silver armband-like device out to Emil. "Take this. With it, you can access the Extranet and fill yourself in. I've highlighted some key sites that should help."

Emil nodded as he looked the device over. After a minute, he turned back to Shepard. "I appreciate this. I'll see about incorporating it into my armor, and then I'll get studying."

"Good luck Emil," Shepard said as he walked out. "If you decide to fight against the Collectors with us, then you're welcome to stay. If not, I have a friend who can keep an eye on you."

"Later Shepard," Emil nodded as the commander walked out the door, staring out into the vastness of space that stretched out before him.

"_Emil…" _Wynonna said as she appeared inside his visor. _"I'm sorry I didn't tell you how long you were sleeping sooner. I just wanted to believe that someone would find us some day. I didn't think it would take this long," _she said sadly. _"I just wanted to see you awake again," _she added, more to herself.

"It's okay Wynonna," Emil sighed as he pulled out a few crates, making a bench as he took a seat. "When that portal closed us out, and the distress beacon was damaged, I knew the chances of anyone finding us were slim to none."

At that point, Wynonna just sighed sadly as she hugged her knees.

"But," he continued, "I guess even after all this time, there's still a place for a lone Spartan in the universe."

"_So I take it that means you'll join Shepard and fight the Collectors and the Reapers?" _Wynonna asked. _"From what I've learned about them from EDI, they're somewhat similar to The Flood, just worse."_

"Flood, Collectors, Reapers, it doesn't matter what you call them or what they're made of," Emil said as he stretched his back. "Once I get stretched out from being in that pod, those things will die the same way."

Wynonna simply sighed as she resettled herself into the inside of Emil's helmet. _"You're a pretty simple guy, you know that?"_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
It has now been established that Emil and Wynnona are in fact not of the same time period as the ME, but are actually from an undetermined period of time backwards from an alternate Earth at the far corner of the universe (that happens to be the Halo universe).**

**Also, my description for what the Omni-Tool looks like when it isn't "on" is purely guesswork, since there aren't any pictures that show what it looks like. (Or at least not any **_**I **_**have been able to find.)**

**The summary for the events in Halo 3 was taken from the Halo 3 page on the Halo Wikia, just to clarify on where I got the information should that become an issue. The info and explanations on how the weapons work is also from Halo Wikia.**

**IMPORTANT:  
Now, the reason that this story isn't in the Mass Effect/Halo CrossOver section is because the story completely takes place in the Mass Effect universe, and the only pieces of the Halo universe are the two OCs. There is no Flood, or Covenant, and there's no way that Master Chief could've survived long enough to meet up with our red-armored Spartan ever again, and even if he _did _go into cryogenic stasis, there's no way they'd know where Emil and Wynonna went.**

**P.S.  
Both Wynonna and Emil's names mean "Origin", but the funny thing is when I was creating this story, that was never my intention, and was purely coincidence.**

**The tab, "356" at the end of Emil's identification is taken from the end of my FanFiction UserName, the 356 meaning the number of days I used to think were in a year. Key word _used _to.**

**Some details regarding the correlation between Emil's age and the duration of the Spartan II Program (2517-2525 if my information is at all accurate), but that's only so he'll be compatible with other females in this story should I go down that path, as opposed to him being the same age as Master Chief (36), since Emil is only 25.**


	4. Dossier: The Warlord

**Remember to vote on the **_**Mass Effect 2: The Sleeping Soldier**_** Poll on my profile page. It's very important that you do so if you want your opinion on the Kasumi and/or Zaeed issue.**

**I'll only be collecting votes until after the chap _after _the next one is complete. ****I've got at least 6 votes so far, so at the very least, I'd like 10-15 votes, so if you could vote after reading this chap (and preferably after the next two too), it would be much appreciated.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter. It's a doozie.**

**P.S.  
This story's M-rating is due mainly to vocal content as much as it is violent content. Kind of a "just in case".****

* * *

**

An hour ago, Miranda had just submitted her report on Shepard's newest _ally_ to The Illusive Man. The report itself consisted of the scans performed on Emil's body by Mordin -some of the details acquired on his augmentations included-, his testimony in the briefing room about what he'd been doing before he was pulled out of stasis, and the data provided on the Covenant, The Flood, and a little on the SPARTAN II project as well from the mysteriously-constructed AI, Wynonna. Despite the high mortality rate in the Orion, AKA the SPARTAN I program, it was successful enough to warrant the beginning of the SPARTAN II project.

To say that TIM was surprised was somewhat accurate, and it was _hard_ to surprise a guy who was in his position.

As he looked over the report submitted, his eyes scanning over the specifics on Emil's augmentations, his mind marveled at the possibility that a super soldier, a _real life _super soldier, could drift through the universe for around twelve thousand years, avoiding every sun, planet, and asteroid belt in its wake, and remain completely undiscovered until the Normandy's scanners picked it up.

And this wasn't just some super soldier from a sci-fi novel who's powers were completely unrealistic like telekenesis, or super-regenerating, or unassisted flight. This was the real deal. Every human parameter possible upgraded beyond it's set maximum. Armed to the teeth with equipment still in development by top scientists, and the capability to crush entire armies underfoot. Truly, this Emil-356 was a force to be contended with, and potentially, a good tool for the fight against the Collectors and beyond.

"Hmmmm…" TIM hummed as he tapped his lit cigarette, the ashes falling into the ash tray in his chair as his glowing eyes scanned over the report once more. "Should Shepard perish on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay, Emil may prove to be a suitable candidate. Even more so if I were able to acquire his body for further study. Though if the prior were to occur, I would have to think of a valid reason for the latter's body to be brought back."

* * *

Meanwhile, Shepard stood in the middle of the CIC, the Galaxy Map in front of him, their current location, the Imir star system in The Eagle Nebula. Their destination, the planet Korlus, was where they would try to recruit Okeer, the Krogan Warlord with over a century's worth of experience in the field, and familiarity with Collector technology. Both would prove useful in the upcoming battles.

At the same time, it had been about three days since Jack had been recruited the trip between the Osun system and the Imir system taking some time between Relay jumps and deep space movement.

Emil had to the point proven Dr. Mordin's analysis correct in regards to his heightened brain power. At the moment, he'd already integrated the majority of the information regarding Council alien races and committed them to memory, and was slowly working his way into weapon technology. Information on Non-Council species "could wait" as he put it.

Of course, after reading the information provided by Wynonna as to exactly what Emil was designed to do, _why _he was designed to do it, and _what_ he had done before, it was to be expected that the Spartan would be fascinated by weapons technology. Especially when it came to the advancements in firepower now available to him in the form of various scope inovations, ammo types, etc.

"How long until we reach Korlus?" Shepard asked as he came out of his thoughts.

"_ETA calculated at fifty minutes, give or take through traffic," _Wynonna spoke, oddly enough, through the console instead of EDI as usual.

"_Excuse me, but while your ETA may be correct, there is no "through traffic" in the Imir star system at this time," _EDI scolded as she appeared beside the human AI.

"Wynonna, I thought you had reintegrated yourself into Emil's armor," Shepard said as he crossed his arms as he looked at the humanoid AI, surprised she was appearing through the network now.

"_He did. I'm also able to link to the ship's computers when Emil places his hand-mounted interface on a console connected to the network," _Wynonna said, then turned to EDI, who at that moment "stood" at the same height as her. _"And as for the through traffic, that was a _joke _to help lighten the mood. It's a human thing. You just wouldn't understand."_

"Shepard, could you take Sleeping Beauty and Tinker Bell with you on your next mission?" Joker asked from the cockpit. "I don't want to have to put up with these two arguing the whole time. I think I may end up breaking the mute button if you don't do otherwise."

"I'll see if Emil is up to it," Shepard replied as he went to the elevator, only for Emil to meet him first surprisingly.

"Wynonna told me there was a mission coming up," Emil stated. "With your permission, I'd like to join you."

"I was actually about to ask you to join," Shepard replied. "However," he said as he the side of Emil's helmet closer to his face where he suspected his ears were. "I assume you'll be taking your AI with you. I can't have two AIs messing with the ship if they get into a fight."

"_Oh yeah? Well your bandwidth is too wide!" _Wynonna shrieked at EDI.

"_I'll have you know that my bandwidth is at acceptable standards, thank you very much," _EDI argued back.

"Ah, I see our AI are getting along," Emil said in an amused tone.

"Getting along? Them?"

"Obviously you've never seen two girls in a sister-sister relationship like those two," Emil said pointing to the blue and orange AI. "This is a normal reaction for girls. Well, sort of, in this situation."

"And how exactly would you know that?" Shepard asked.

"I didn't fight _all _the time. I took breaks between missions," Emil said crossing his arms.

"Just make sure you bring your AI with you and out of the ship's harddrive," Shepard said as he closed the elevator behind him, leaving Emil in the CIC.

When Emil turned around, he noticed Kelly, the ships councelor/therapist, looking at him expectantly. She was about to open her mouth to say something before Emil cut her off.

"No, I will not take off my helmet," Emil stated as he walked over to the console and held out his hand. For the past three days, she'd been asking him to take off his helmet, as to improve relations between him and the crew. While his guise was both somewhat awe-inspiring, and intimidating, some were having doubts that he was even _human _under that helmet, going as far as to come up with theories that he was some sort of advanced battle robot or something. "Come on Wynonna, we've got a mission."

"_Yay!" _Wynonna squealed as she hopped onto his outstretched palm, seeming to be absorbed into his armor until a faint red glow shone from the visor before returning to normal.

"EDI, which direction are the stairs?" Emil asked the ship AI.

"_I am afraid the Normany was not built to accommodate stairs,"_ the AI responded. _"The main elevator shaft and the ventilation ducts are the only means between the Normandy's five decks."_

"Are you _shitting_ me?" Emil asked before going over to the elevator and pushing the button, tapping his foot irritantly as he waited for the damned thing to come back down from the top. "Man, I always hated these thing. I bet the _Protheans _never built elevators this slow."

And oh, how right he was.

* * *

Emil looked out the small windows of the shuttle as it neared the planet's surface. After a few seconds, he had surmised that Korlus must've been the equivalent to a ship graveyard. Usually in those types of places, any salvagable parts were taken to be sold again, while the rest was left where it was.

When the ship finally touched down, Emil pulled out his replacement assault rifle -the M8 Avenger-, Shepard and Garrus doing the same as they leapt out of the ship and onto the metal-littered ground, the sky looking like it was in no better shape.

"The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is on this planet by choice," Shepard said as they all ducked behind cover as the shuttle took off. "Assume hostiles."

"_There is only one measure of success. Kill or be killed. Perfection is our goal,"_ a female voice suddenly blared out through the air.

"Loudspeakers?" Garrus asked. "Looks like _someone _likes the sound of their voice."

"_Sounds like a real piece of _work _to me," _Wynonna said as she hid behind Emil's shoulder.

"I agree," Emil said as he looked over his assault rifle, the new weapon unfamiliar in his hands. "I never did like the type who talked too much. Not enough action."

"Stay focused. We're looking for a krogan warlord," Shepard said as he brought out his sidearm.

For a few minutes, the group headed down a metal-borne path that slowly curved to the right, halfway through, the voice from the loudspeaker blared up again.

"_Being hired is merely the beginning. You must _earn _you place in the mighty army we are building."_

"_Stuck up bitch!" _Wynonna huffed, turning a visible shade of red for a moment.

"Get inside my helmet, Wynonna. My Heads-Up Display is picking up three hostiles around the corner at three o'clock," Emil said as he backed up against a wall, his gun ready.

"Heads-Up Display?" Garrus asked.

"Standard equipment in the MJOLNIR MK V's helmet," Emil explained. "Can track hostile units for short distances. It can also increase accuracy to up to a thousand meters while using the Heads Up in conjunction with the armor's hand-mounted weapon's interface. Why? Isn't this standard issue for commanding officers _here_?"

Neither said anything.

"I'll take that as a no."

"So I assume your armor has an assortment of _other _useful goodies," Garrus said semi-dryly.

"Ask your questions _after_ we get the krogan onto the Normandy," Emil said as he got ready to vault into the open. "By my estimates, it would take somewhere close to six hours to explain the suit's inner workings in detal."

_"Six and a _half_ hours to be precise," _Wynonna corrected.

"Right. Six and a _half _hours," Emil stated as he vaulted over his cover.

At the moment he did so, the three Blue Sun mercenaries immediately began firing at Emil, however, thanks to the Force-Multiplying circuits in his armor, he was able to weave in and out of enemy fire without taking any hits while shooting off his assault rifle in short bursts, taking out the two mercs at the front in a matter of seconds.

The third one took aim with his own weapon, but before Emil could shoot him down, a bullet suddenly cut through the merc's head, dropping him where he stood behind his barricade. He then turned to his right to see Garrus lowering the barrel of a sniper rifle before it folded up and was placed on his back.

"Look, I know you're some kind of super soldier from another galaxy, but could you try leaving some for us next time?" the turrian sniper asked.

"Sorry. Got a little excited there," Emil said as the three walked up the ramp. After doing so, they caught the sight of another Blue Sun merc, except this one was on the ground, and appeared to be nursing an injury.

"Shit. Shit," the merc panted. "Won't stop bleeding. I'm- I'm gonna- I'm gonna- Son of a bitch."

"Doesn't look that bad actually," Garrus commented.

"He_ doesn't need to know that,"_ Wynonna chuckled, beating Shepard to the punch as he headed toward the wounded merc.

"I _knew _it wasn't berserkers," the merc said, blood splattered across his face. "Ah, not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not- I'm not telling you anything."

"I've got a nice application of medi-gel ready to go," Shepard said flashing his omni-tool in front of the _wounded _merc. "But if you'd rather I just keep walking…"

"Medi-gel? Haven't read that lesson yet," Emil whispered to himself.

"_I think I can fill you in before this is over," _Wynonna said into his earpiece. _"Let Shepard and Garrus handle the next few guys and I can have you filled in, in about five, ten minutes."_

Emil nodded as he continued watching the commander work.

"Son of a bi- I ah- just ah- I don't know anything," the merc answered after a few seconds. "I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old krogan up there," he said motioning his head behind him, "he's really been cleanin' house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are in_sane_, so we use 'em for live _ammo _training," he said before flinching. "God damn! I don't get paid enough to god damn bleed-out."

"_Outpost 4. Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack,"_ a voice said on the merc's radio.

"What's he talking about?" Emil asked.

"Jedore runs a Blue Suns outlier, and she's making krogans for an army," the merc explained. "But they all come out crazy. Tough as hell, but just insane."

"Seems kind of pointless," Emil stated with crossed arms. "You could hire an army of mercs for cheaper and get results much faster then cloning krogan from scratch."

"I don't know. I just point, shoot, and bank my credits," the merc answered. "Maybe there's something better in the labs?"

At that point, Shepard took a step toward the _injured _merc, a serious look on his face.

"I want your friends gone," he whispered. "Understand?"

The merc nodded his head slowly as he spoke into the headpiece. "Uh, patrol. The last group… dispersed," he responded, trying to make it convincing. "Lost sight five minutes ago."

"_Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed," _the voice said. _"She wanted a show."_

"You asked for a report, you got it, dispersed!" the merc argued.

"_Understood. Returning to the labs," _the voice answered before the radio cut off.

"There, see? I'm helping," the merc sighed in relief.

"Have you seen Okeer? Does he know about all of this?" Shepard asked.

"I can't _go _in the labs, but everyone sees what happens when the krogans come out. I shot hundreds. They're crazy, mindless. Anyone there, they know what's going on," the merc answered.

"What's Jedore planning to do with all these krogan?" Shepard asked.

"Replace us, probably," the merc answered. "I sure wouldn't want to see an army of _them _coming at me. Only she can't control them. They aren't supposed to be crazy, but they're krogan. How smart are they to start?"

"What are we looking at in terms of defenses?" Emil asked. "Think carefully before you answer. It'll mean the difference between living and bleeding out," he said as he looked down on the merc from full height, an intimidating sight if you'd ever seen one.

"There are big guns to keep ships away. We're not outfitted to fight goddamn commandos," the merc answered as he tilted his head upward, slightly averting his gaze from the golden visor that just stared into him, not wanting to bleed out.

"I think we've got what we need," Emil said as he flashed his omni-tool and stepped toward the merc. "Stand still and hold your arms out to your sides. Once I apply the medi-gel, I want you gone, understand? If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

"R-Right," the merc said as he had to look up to the red-armored soldier. "I understand."

After waving his omni-tool over the injured merc for a minute, he resumed full height as he disengaged the holographic tool.

"There. You're fixed. Now start running. When my friend goes into combat situations," he said motioning to Shepard and Garrus, "people tend to die."

"G-Got it!" the merc said as he ran off, completely recovered. "Thank you!"

"You seriously gave him medi-gel for _those_ injuries?" Garrus asked as the merc walked over the other side of the hill, far enough out of hearing range that they could talk freely.

"Of _course_ not! I just waved my omni-tool over him and the guy completely bought it," Emil answered. "It was all in his head anyway. Besides, the guy looked like he could use a break. Probably just ran the merc angle for easy creds."

"I figured as much," Shepard replied as he grabbed his assault rifle. "Now come on. Our warlord is somewhere in Jedore's lab," he said as he led the group forward.

* * *

As the group headed down the road, a few more comments echoed through the air as they passed by several krogan corpses strewn about.

"_Training is part of your contract. Failure to perform means liquidation. Legal, or otherwise."_

As the group continued through the battle-torn wastes, Wynonna manage to isolate the merc's frequency so they could listen in on their conversations as they killed two groups of Blue Suns, trying to get lucky shots from some higher platforms.

"_Team Four, do you read? Team Four!" _one merc asked

"_Comm, tell Jedore we have a problem. Patrols are going dark. Either the krogan are pushing, or we're being raided!"_

Both Shepard and Garrus looked to the red-armored Spartan, who at the moment was placing heat sinks onto the magnetic clips on his armor.

"What? Removal of weapons and ammo is standard procedure in the UNSC," Emil argued at the looks he was being given. Whenever a dead body was within reach, Emil would run his hands above them, grabbing whatever ammo he could find, then carried on like nothing was morally wrong with his actions.

The two just sighed as they all drew their weapons, Garrus sniping the Blue Suns from a distance while Shepard decked out his assault rifle, Emil hitting the leftovers with his pistol.

"Man I'll be glad once Jacob modds my weapons to take heat sinks," Emil sighed as he placed the weapon back on his hip. "I miss the kick of my old weapons."

After a couple more conflicts, Jedore's voice spoke over the intercom once again. And once more, everyone, Wynonna in particular who called her a chatty bitch, was getting real fed up with the Blue Suns leader.

"_The krogan are your example and your warning! As ferocious as they are, failures are expendable."_

What was also noticeable was that the krogan bodies seemed to be getting fresher and fresher with every step, which meant they must've been getting closer to Okeer's lab.

Their suspicions were confirmed whey the group came upon a lone krogan under fire, a group of Blue Suns on the rafters above taking pot shots at it while it tried to avoid taking any shots.

"Code six! Offworld presence!" a Blue Sun merc on the rafter shouted into his radio as he spotted the three. "Shift fire from the krogan! Hostiles in the compound!"

"_We have guests in the compound," _Jedore spoke over the loudspeaker. _"If they're not killed immediately, all bonuses will be denied!" _Jedore's voice rung out once more.

The moment that last word was uttered, the Blue Sun and several others were knocked down from the rafters as Shepard had brought out his grenade launcher and dropped a bomb right in their laps, sending them flying in all directions in the resulting explosion.

Emil picked off two of them in a flurry of shots, a third getting up in front of a fourth one. As Emil was about to gun them down however, Garrus beat him to the punch.

"Firing Concussive Shot," he said as he fired a concussive round from his assault rifle, the round slamming the first Blue Sun into the second, killing them both as several bones were shattered in a fatal way, a few lose pipes on the rafters above falling onto them only adding insult to injury.

"I assume that's one of the ammo types I've been hearing about?" Emil asked.

"That's right," Shepard said as he placed his grenade launcher back on his back. "You want me to lend you some training videos once you get your updated weapons?"

"That's like asking whether I want to breathe or not," Emil said as Shepard approached the krogan.

When they noticed they were now alone with one of the krogan, Garrus raised his assault rifle to it, but Shepard signaled for him to lower his weapon as the clone seemed to be regarding him intelligently.

"You… are different. New. You don't smell of this world," the krogan said in a deep voice as it sniffed Shepard. "Seven night cycles, and I have only felt the need to kill. But you… something makes me speak."

"_Seven nights? He's a week old?"_ Wynonna asked.

"They must breed these things to full-size. They're ready to kill, but not much of an improvement over mercs if they need training," Emil surmised. "Or have _disciplinary _issues," he added.

"Bred… to kill. No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother," the krogan responded. "Survival is what I hear in my head. Against the enemy that threatens all my kind. But I failed even before waking. That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I wait here."

"Was it Okeer's voice you heard in your tank?" Garrus asked.

"I heard the voice. Not like now, with ears. Inside. I called it "father". It liked that. But it was disappointed. I am not what it needs me to be."

"A lab full of krogans- Probably trying to cure the genophage," Garrus stated.

"Cure? Cure was never whispered. Survive. Resist. Ignore."

"I destroyed Saren's cure. How does Okeer expect these krogan to ignore the genophage if not by curing it?" Shepard asked.

"I'd like to ask you about that some time once this mission is over," Emil chided in from the sides. "Sounds like we've both had some interesting stories."

"Is that really important? As we've all seen, these things aren't all there," Garrus said, then turned to the krogan. "No offense intended."

"How did you disappoint the voice?" Emil asked the krogan, who at that point seemed not to hear the turrian's comment.

"I don't know. It was decided before I left tank mother. I was not perfect," the krogan answered.

"Heard that a few times before," Emil sighed, remembering back to the SPARTAN II project. "You seem perfectly sane to me," he added as he addressed the krogan.

"I don't know of that. But I am not perfect," the creature responded.

"_How can you speak if you're only a week old?"_ Wynonna asked, appearing on Emil's shoulder.

"There was a scratching sound in my head, and it became the voice. It taught things I would need: walking, talking, hitting, shooting. Then the voice said I was not perfect and the teaching stopped. And now I am here."

"You weren't good enough?" Garrus asked. "What were you intended for then?"

"I don' know, but I am not perfect."

"_Sounds like someone's got self-esteem issues," _Wynonna stated, Emil shushing her a moment later.

"You're supposed to be part of a mercenary army. Do you remember Jedore?" Shepard asked.

"I know that name. It causes anger. But also laughter. It is not a name that will be sung when we march," the krogan answered, an almost happy tone in his voice. "I don't know what that means, but I have heard it many times."'

"Can you show me the laboratory?" Shepard asked. "I need to speak with Okeer."

"The… glass mother. She is up. Past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things. I will show you," the krogan answered as it headed over to one of the _walls _in that enclosed space. After dusting its hands and cracking its neck, it lifted a large panel of metal from the ground, then tossed it a good few feet away. "You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way," it stated as the group walked toward the new entrance, slightly darkened in the shade of several ship hulls.

"Would you like to come with us?" Emil asked as he extended his hand to the young krogan. "You might be able to find your purpose elsewhere. Aside from here I mean."

"No," the krogan answered. "I will fight if they come, but I feel it deep that I must wait. I kill, but only here. I am not perfect, but I have purpose. I must wait until called. Released," the krogan said as it walked back to the clearing.

"_Good luck little guy,"_ Wynonna said as he left the week-old krogan behind, to live or die on his own, before jumping back into Emil's armor as the group walked down the darkened _tunnel_.

* * *

The group descended down into the darkened tunnels. Several mercs attacked from around the corner, but they were soon gunned down like swine. Afterwards, another cloned krogan, clearly not as talkative as the last, came out firing its shotgun in a mad frenzy.

Said creature met the same fate moments later.

This continued for several minutes as the team walked down the haphazard walkways on their way to the lab. After many clones were felled, the groups got back together in what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, only for one more to come from around the bend.

"Huh. Looks like we missed one," Garrus said as he raised his sniper rifle, only for Emil to raise his hand signaling him to stop, much to his and Shepard's confusion as well as he started walking towards it, placing his weapon at his hip.

"You two stand back. I'm in the mood for a good fist fight," Emil said cracking his knuckles as he walked towards the crazed krogan. "Wouldn't want to get sloppy."

"Emil, in all honesty, I don't think-" Garrus started, but was surprised to see the crazed krogan discarding its weapon as well, cracking its knuckles as it walked towards Emil until the two of them came to a stop.

For a few seconds, the two seemed to be regarding each other, then they charged.

If you blinked, you would've missed it. One second, the red-armored Spartan and the crazed krogan were charging at each other. The next, Emil's right fist had burst through the krogan's skull and out the top of its helmet in a brutal uppercut with a loud and sickening crunch.

Garrus had to hold his lunch down in order to avoid hurling, Shepard a little mortified as well. The way Emil cast the krogan's body aside, shaking the brain, blood, and bits of its skull off his arm and fist after removing it like that was a normal thing, caused both he and Shepard thought something along the lines of-

"_Remind me to never make enemies with that guy."_

Emil stepped over the fallen body, blood dripping from his hand as he brought out his assault rifle. He then turned back to Shepard and Garrus. "What're you waiting for. Let's get that doctor before that stuck-up bitch goes over the radio again."

* * *

When the group reached what appeared to be the inner workings of what was once a frigate, they came upon an active door, the orange halo still active. After a few seconds of hacking, the group walked into a wide and decrepit staircase, slowly navigating their way toward the top, and hopefully Okeer's lab. As they passed a dead turrian, the radio flared once more. Obviously, _they _were the cause.

"_Krogan on our six! Copy, god damn it! Where's Jedore and her personal guard?"_

Or not.

When they entered the next room, the group scavenged a few heat sinks from the table, audible gunshots coming from the next room over.

After having made sure their weapons were armed, the weapons interface in Emil's suit confirming his, the group opened the door and drew their weapons. Before any shots were fired, Emil opted to simply kick the first merc off of the edge before ducking behind cover, two rockets sailing over his head from across the open expanse between them and their foes.

"_Jedore does not pay for failure!" _she blared over the speaker as the group entered the next room, the rounds bouncing harmlessly off of Emil's built-in energy shielding. _"Do your jobs, I want them dead!"_

"Damn! Doesn't she ever shut up?" Emil asked as he poked his head above cover, shooting a merc down before dodging another rocket, Shepard and Garrus covering him moments later.

"_Concentrate on the krogan charge or we're all dead," _another merc said over the radio as the group stepped past several more bodies, Wynonna taking a note to see about arming Emil's weapons with Incendiary Rounds since in some ways, the mercs trying to put out the fires on themselves was hilarious. _"Who was the genius who gave them arms?"_

After ascending another flight of stairs, Jedore saying she was going to deal with the traitorous krogan, the group pushed harder through the Blue Suns ranks that got in their way, Okeer's familiarity with Collector tech too valuable to lose to a hyped-up mercenary on a power-based tirade.

"_Berserkers are going down, but the outside commandos are still incoming. Repeat. Still incoming."_

"_I need everyone out of the labs to fight this. Every floor. Every outpost. Move!"_

As the group met yet more resistance, Jedore's voice blared over the speakers again. _"No more! I command that they be killed! What is so hard to understand?"_

After felling the next group of mercs, the radio became abuzz with more chatter.

"_What do you mean Jedore's holding the mechs? She'll lose all her toys if we don't get backup!"_

"In-fighting among mercs? Sad," Emil commented.

"_Concentrate fire on my position! Concentrate on- Argh!"_

"_I'd say I felt sorry for them, but then I'd be lying," _Wynonna added dryly.

Once the group ascended the next stairs, Jedore's voice came across the radio once again. Her voice was getting really old, really fast.

"_There are three of them! Three! Anything can be killed if you do your damned jobs!"_

"_Jedore! Damn it, someone get her off the speakers and out here!"_

"Heh. Looks like all that chatter is tying the lines up for us," Garrus said as he ducked behind some cover, Emil and Shepard knocking out two mercs each, then killing the fifth together.

"_Trespassers are topside! Tell Jedore we can't hold them off and the krogan! We're getting slaughtered!" _a merc said over the radio as two more groups fell.

"_Squad Four? Outpost? Report! Damn it. Have to do everything myself."_

"_Why don't you just come out here so we can kill you, you fucking bitch?" _Wynonna shouted over the gunfire, Shepard, Garrus, and Emil giving her odd looks. _"Eh heh. Sorry."_

* * *

"This isn't something you hear a Spartan say that much, but I'm getting real tired of killing all these guys," Emil said as they walked into the next room, a krogan body on a lab table, along with some other, cheap, lab equipment around. "At least when I was fighting the Covenant, they put up more of a fight. Huh?" he said as he noticed that there was an asari wearing a white and red jumpsuit in the room as well. "_Sigh. _Don't worry, I've got this one," Emil said as he centered his pistol on the alien's forehead. "Don't move too much and it'll be over in a second."

"Ah! No wait! Don't shoot!" she suddenly cried, then turned to face the commander. "Shepard, you know me!"

"If it's alright with everyone, I'll just keep my gun raised," Emil said, keeping the gun level on the potential enemy.

"I shut down the security cams as soon as I saw it was you. Never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad it's you shooting up the place," the asari said.

"I'm assuming you know her?" Emil asked, gun still trained.

"Sorry. Rana Tanoptis. You let me go when you destroyed Saren's lab on Virmire. Had to outrun nuke in a utility pod, but it's still a second chance," she explained.

"I assume you have a good reason for being at this lab?" Shepard said crossing his arms.

"Don't worry. I'm not wasting the chance you gave me. My work here – strictly beneficial," she answered. "Not for the mercs. Jedore's on a standard power trip."

"_Got that right," _Wynonna muttered.

"But Okeer is trying to do something good, I can tell," she continued. "Even if his methods are a little… extreme," she said turning to a slightly charred human skeleton on another lab table. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Right? And sometimes giving one pays off. I take care of my debts."

"What's Okeer trying to accomplish by making all these cloned krogan?" Garrus asked.

"It's complicated. Jedore wants a private army, but Okeer mostly ignores her. He's running the project for his own reasons. I created a mental imprint routine to educate the tank-bred, but most of them don't get through it. He dumps them for some reason," she said looking to the krogan body on the table. "He wants to help his people, but he's not looking for a genophage cure, and he's not going for numbers. That's all I know."

"Finding you in a place like this makes me think letting you go was a mistake," Shepard started. "You don't want that."

"We agree on that. Don't worry, I plan on staying away from anything to do with you as possible," the asari said as she gathered a few things before leaving. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to run like hell before you blow up the place or something. I know how you work," she said as she ran out the door.

"Good luck with that," Emil stated as he finally removed his weapon's aim from the woman's skull. "Try not to get killed by a crazed krogan or something. We might have _missed _one!" he shouted just as she ran out the door.

"Was that last line really necessary?" Garrus asked.

"Wynonna's idea. Not mine," Emil answered as they walked through the next door.

* * *

In the next room, the group came upon a spacious lab, better equipment all around. In a corner was a tall, well-maintained stasis pod. Inside was a silver-armored krogan. Looked to be designed better than the rest. Working on a control panel beside it was another krogan, this one looking older than a "young" krogan, and was wearing a dark green and yellow armor-jumpsuit.

"Here you are. I've watched your progress," the warlord said, not bothering to turn away from the control panel. "Anyway, it's about time. The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs."

"I take it you're Okeer," Shepard said in greeting. "You don't seem particularly caged. Or _grateful _that I'm here."

"You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change," Okeer responded, Emil taking a mental not to ask about the 'formerly deceased' part. "Surprised?" he asked. "All krogan should know you. I'm sure Rana has already revisited your actions on Virmire."

"I didn't have a lot of room for finesse," Shepard answered. "If there'd been any other solution, I'd have considered it."

"But I approve," Okeer responded, to Shepard's initial shock. "Saren's pale horde were not true krogan. Numbers alone are nothing. The mistake of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made," he continued as he turned to the 'panoramic-view' window on the right side of the lab, overlooking a larger chamber filled with cloning pods. "I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here."

"I understand you're familiar with Collector tech. Is that true?" Garrus asked.

"I see. Yes, Collector attacks have increased. A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere," the warlord responded, motioning to the krogan in the tank.

Like was mentioned before, he wore silver armor. However, this one looked different from the pictures on the extranet. Its skin was a consistent orange instead of the somewhat-varying shades, and the crest on his head was smoother-looking too, but still rough. Almost like he was… better than other krogan.

"I acquired the knowledge to create one pure soldier," Okeer began as he walked before the tank. "With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer. To be ignored."

"What did you get from the Collectors?" Shepard asked. "I need whatever you know about them."

"They are strange. So isolated, yet available when your sacrifice is big enough. I gave them many krogan," Okeer answered in an 'it doesn't concern me' voice. "I may have information for you, but the tech was consumed in my prototype. After I determined how to use it without killing the subjects. The deaths were unfortunate, but I only need once success to start the process."

"I thought the krogan ideal was a return to the numbers that threatened the galaxy," Shepard said with crossed arms.

"We will not need numbers. My soldier is a template. It is a greater threat then all the phantom siblings that would have been at its flank," Okeer answered. "The galaxy still bears the scars of the horde. But it will learn to fear the lance."

"It sounds like you don't want to _cure_ the genophage," Emil said. "Is this _template _of yours a way to get around it?"

"A crude explanation, but accurate all the same," Okeer stated. "Contrary to what survivors claim, the genophage does not produce strong krogan - the only quality it filters is the ability to survive the genophage. For every thousand stillborn, too many weaklings live. Every survivor is precious. That's produced more coddling than your collective human teats," he said waving his hands in somewhat-dramatic gestures. Easier said than done when you had arms like a tyrannosurus rex. "I say let us carry the genophage. Let a thousand die in a clutch. We will defeat it by climbing atop our dead. That is the krogan way."

"Your search for the perfect soldier created a lot of failures," Garrus stated. "Don't you care about them?"

"I failed no one. My rejects are exactly what Jedore asked for. She simply lacks the ability to command. They are strong, healthy, and useless to me," the warlord stated the last part clearly. "I need perfection. If a few thousand are rejected, so be it. My work will purify the krogan. We will not be restored – we will be renewed."

"Your methods are extreme, but you know how to deconstruct a threat. Will you help us?" Shepard asked.

"Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage. But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy," Okeer answered strongly.

"_Attention! I have traced the krogan release. Okeer, of course," _Jedore announced. When the group turned to the window, it was evident that the person there, standing alongside several unactivated mechs, was Jedore. _"I'm calling "blank slate" on this project. Gas these commandoes and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!"_

As if on cue, light blue gas began venting into the rooms from several vents. In a matter of minutes, the air would be saturated with the stuff. Anyone caught breathing it would be dead within minutes as well.

"She's that weak willed? She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer cursed as he ran to the control panel. "Shepard! You want information on the Collectors? Stop her. She'll try to access contaminants in the storage bay."

"You could start over, like she plans to. What's the big deal?" Shepard asked.

"This tank is pure. It involved as much trial as data. Starting over will not duplicate it. It must survive," the warlord answered. "Jedore will be with the rejected tanks. Kill her. I will…stay and do what must be done."

"Hold it!" Emil said turning the warlord towards him. "My helmet's filtration system can easily keep me alive in here. Either that, or I can pressurize it and use my internal oxygen supply like I'm in deep space. Let me do this for you. You just have to direct me from the outside, away from the gas. You could even kill Jedore _yourself_ if you feel like it. _You_ live. The _clone_ lives. Jedore _dies_. Everybody wins."

"No. I cannot, and _will_ not, allow my legacy to be placed in the hands of a species that doesn't even have a redundant nervous system," Okeer shot back, looking up at the red-armored soldier. "I will remain here. Save my legacy. All you need to do is kill her."

"_I don't care who they are, I want them dead! This is my world! I'll poison them all!" _Jedore shouted over the loudspeaker.

"Go! I will remain here! Words will not change my mind, and force will get you nothing," Okeer said as he turned towards the tank's control panel, activating subroutines to protect it from the toxic gasses being pumped into the room. "Move!"

"_Can we just shut that bitch up now?" _Wynonna asked as the group walked out the lab door, leaving Okeer behind to protect his legacy.

* * *

The group quickly exited Okeer's lab, only to come face to face with a pissed-looking blond-haired woman in Blue Suns armor, several glowing holographic plates resembling armor around her body as well. At the moment, it seemed that she was armed with a large rocket launcher, and was also extremely pissed. By what she sounded like on the radio, she sounded like the type who thought very highly of herself.

Emil took note that the area was enclosed as well, several tanks full of water and what were suspected to be cloned krogan bodies inside each onte. All in all, none offered the best cover. Things were going to be tricky.

"Get them!" Jedore ordered, a few of the tanks opening, the cloned krogan, already armed, gunning straight for them.

"More of these things? How many did Okeer make?" Garrus asked as he sniped a krogan between the eyes, dropping it instantly.

"I have more where that came from," Jedore said as another tank opened.

"That merc said he's shot hundreds, so anywhere from that to the thousands," Emil answered as he continued to shoot the cloned krogans as they came out of the cells. "I don't know how long this projects been running, but hopefully they won't start pouring in from the outside," he said as he shot down another two, barely dodging a rocket by moving to further cover. "We're already in a bad enough tactical position, and I don't think these krogan are already carrying heat sinks."

"I'll build more! There's always more!" Jedore shouted, releasing more krogan between rocket attacks. "I rule here!" she said as the mechs fired at them, forcing them to move to different cover.

One of the YMIR mech managed to sneak up on them from the corner, the only thing protecting Neal from the near point-blank barrage was the energy shielding his armor provided, and the quick barrage of Armor-Piercing and Disruptor rounds from both Shepard and Garrus.

"Break them! Kill them! I'll create more!" Jedore said as the mech self-destructed. "Go ahead - destroy ! I will rebuild!"

* * *

For the next several minutes, the group continued to shoot down the cloned krogan that would come out of the tanks, shifting from cover to cover to avoid the hail of rockets from Jedore and the YMIR.

At the present moment, the group had eliminated all of the krogan in the tanks, Shepard launching grenades into them to kill the krogan before they awoke, but under the constant hail of rockets and bullets, even Shepard was hard-pressed to find an opening to eliminate Jedore.

"Rgh. These things got us pinned down, and with that trigger-happy merc with the rocket launcher, we can't find an opening," Garrus grunted as he ducked behind cover, the rocket impacting it and ringing in his ears.

"We need a distraction, but what can we use that'll get _all _of their attention?" Shepard asked, a high-pitched wailing metting his ears as the answer.

"Hey you!" Emil suddenly shouted as he jumped out of his cover, the Splaser over his shoulder as he aimed it at the two YMIR mech and Jedore, drawing their attention from Garrus and Shepard as the high-pitched wailing continued to blare through the air. "We got a delivery for you, you ugly _bitch_!"

At that moment, Jedore and the two remaining YMIR mech turned to him, getting ready to fire on the red-armored soldier.

"Sign here!" Emil shouted with finality, beating the three of them to the punch as the red laser fired from the Splaser's barrel, cutting through both the YMIR's chest armor within seconds.

When it struck Jedore's Tech Armor, the laser was stopped for a half-second, but _after _that one half-second, the laser beam tore through her body like a meteor through wet toilet paper, blood pouring out of a hole through her chest as she fell to the ground dead along with the two YMIR mechs.

"That'll teach you to mess with us, you loudmouth fuck," Emil said as he rested the weapon over his shoulder.

"Emil! Take cover! Those YMIR are going to blow!" Shepard shouted as the two YMIR were about to self destruct at Emil's feet.

A moment after both Shepard and Garrus ducked behind their cover, the two mech exploded in a massive plume of fire and energy, the blast shaking the debris at their feet.

After a few moments, Shepard poked his head above the cover he'd used and looked to where Emil had stood a moment before.

"Emil! Emil can you answer me?" Shepard called out into the smoke, trying to get in contact with the red-armored soldier.

"He can't Shepard," Garrus said sadly. "I think we've lost him," he said with a sigh.

Shepard continued looking into the column of smoke. After hearing that tale of how the Human-Covenant war had ended in a far corner of the universe, and how Emil had fought against parasitic aliens along with the Covenant, something like this couldn't have killed the red-armored Spartan so easily.

As the two looked on, the smoke began to part, revealing Emil who was still standing there. However what caught their eye was that he was hunched forward slightly, a globular barrier made of clear hexagonal panels surrounding him on all sides.

As the smoke finally dissipated, the barrier receded around him, and Emil pulled what appeared to be a fist-sized cylinder with red-glowing indentions running down the sides from the ground before tossing it in his hand a few times before strapping it to the back of his waist.

What wasn't immediately noticed, apart from Emil being completely fine, was that the ground at his feet wasn't scorched either, a perfectly round circle at his feet surrounded by black soot.

"Well that certainly took me by surprise," Emil said as he patted himself down. "Looks like everything's still here. Guess it was a good thing I decked out that Shield Charge huh?" he asked as he headed back to Okeer's lab.

"Emil, what did you just use to create that barrier?" Shepard asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, that thing took the explosion of two self-destructing YMIR mechs point-blank without being knocked out at all," Garrus added. "Under most circumstances, that would've knocked out a kinetic barrier and practically kill an armored soldier."

"Oh this?" Emil asked bringing the metal cylinder-like device to his hand from the back of his waist. "I actually completely forgot I had this on me. Didn't notice until now, but glad I had it on me."

"Yes, but that still doesn't answer my question," Shepard repeated. "You never told me you had something like that."

"I think this thing is called the Shield Charge, to tell you the truth," Emil answered. "It's like a frag grenade, except instead of an explosion and shrapnel, a force field comes out. I'm not completely sure of the details, but I think it can protect you from the indirect effects of most explosives, and most firearms," he stated as he looked it over. "Of course I'll have to ask Wynonna if this thing still has a charge, or if I need to make a recharger for this too."

"I'll get the details later," Shepard said getting back on topic. "We need to see if Okeer is alright."

"_Shepard, the lab alarms coincided with a systems failure. The remaining lab systems are unprotected, and I have gained limited access," _EDI said over the mic. _"According to lab scanners, the room is flooded with toxins, and Okeer's personal life signs are failing rapidly. I recommend haste."_

* * *

When the group got to the lab, the first thing they noticed was that Okeer was laying on the ground beside the capsule. When Shepard scanned him with his omni-tool, it was clear that the krogan warlord was dead. Jedore's poison gas had done its job.

As the group approached the console beside the tank, a recording with Okeer in it began to play. Probably made in his last moments.

"_You gave me time, Shepard. If I knew why the Collectors wanted humans, I would tell you," _Okeer's recording spoke, his once deep, rumbling voice growing quiet as the life began to leave his body. _"But everything is in my prototype. My legacy is pure. This… one soldier, this grunt. Perfect."_

At the end of the recording, Okeer fell below the range of the camera, obviously from the poison gas filling the air.

"I told him my suit would've protected me from the toxins," Emil said sadly as he looked at the downed krogan. "I could've stayed here and did whatever he needed done for him. Why didn't he listen to me?"

"Maybe he had too much pride in his work to let someone aside from himself touch it," Garrus answered. "That's just the way krogan are. They see any outside attempt to help them or keep them out of harm's way as an insult."

"I suppose you're right about that," Emil said with a sigh as he leaned down and closed the warlord's eyes. Because he wasn't closing a _human's _eyes, he had to close each lid individually. The reason for that should be fairly obvious.

Shepard looked to the tank, the cloned krogan's eyes open, but it was not known whether it knew what was going on around them or not.

"He killed thousands of his own kind, but he sacrificed himself for this? Why?" Garrus asked as he eyed the capsule.

"_Crack it open," _Wynonna said as she appeared atop Emil's head, sounding like a kid in a candy store. _"Let's see what a pure krogan's got."_

"A "pure" krogan could pack a hell of a punch," Shepard said in agreement. "We can always use another heavy hitter."

"It's your call Shepard," Garrus said. "Do what you want to here, and then let's get moving."

"Normandy? Okeer is a no-go," Shepard said into his radio. "But we have a package that needs retrieval."

At that comment everyone turned to the large capsule sitting in the corner of the room. Okeer's legacy in all it's krogan glory.

"And he's a big one," Shepard concluded as he looked at the tanks contents, wondering if he'd be attacked just like when he woke _Emil_ from stasis.

Taking into account that it was a _krogan _they were dealing with, and his own luck, the probability of that was very high.

* * *

**Well, this was Emil's first mission in the Mass Effect universe, and of course, him being a trained SPARTAN, killing hordes of enemies that get in his way is only second-nature.**

**On the topic of the "Shield Charge" that Emil used when the YMIR mechs blew up right next to him, it is the same piece of equipment that Master Chief uses when that Covenant energy blast is about to hit him, and he uses it to defend itself before he sprints off into the Covenant ranks in the Halo 3 trailer where it shows the two kids looking up at the stars at the beginning before the major scene transition.**

**I'm not sure of its exact name, since I wasn't able to find referene to it, so if you can tell me the real name of that particular piece of equipment, then I can have Wynonna correct him on it's name later in the story. Should I find an opportune moment.**

**As for TIM's angle on Emil, that is something I totally think would happen, should someone like Emil "fall into his lap". Also, even though he spent so much on bringing Shepard back and equipping him with the new Normandy, he isn't the kind of man who wouldn't consider every option available to him or not use a viable resource. Even at the expense of an expensive resource like Shepard, as long as it would benefit him in the long run.**

**Author's Note:  
Not everything all the characters say will be like it was in the game, since unless I can find a professional script for the game's dialogue, I'll be limited to what I see on videos, and what I can guess.**

**Disclaimer:**  
**The line Emil used when he blasted Jedore (after the YMIR mech) with the Spartan Laser is the same line that Goggles used from the newgrounds video, Tankmen Dual PT 2. I doubt I need to say anymore into that matter, since the aforementioned sentence should serve as disclaimer enough.**


	5. Waking the Krogan, Chat with the Convict

**Just a little "mini-rant" before this chapter starts. In one of the previous chapter's Reviews, '****the man in the mirror'**** said what Emil used was the Bubble Shield, except the Bubble Shield doesn't look _anything_ like what Master Chief used to protect himself from the Covenant artillery fire in the ****Halo 3**** trailer (You know, the trailer with the two kids looking up at the stars, and then the scene change were Master Chief puts on his helmet, but like always you never get to see his face). **

**The "Shield Charge" looked more like a grenade than the Bubble Shield did, and that itself looked like a "rig" of some sort on a tripod. The "Shield Charge" is much smaller than the Bubble Shield, and it's deployment is near-instantaneous as well, instead of a flower/bubbling effect. A slightly different speed from what I saw when I played a little ****Halo 3****. Between the two, the "Shield Charge" exchanges the Bubble Shield size and time duration in exchange for overall increased protection from explosive attacks and heavy weapons.**

**Anyway, that's all I had to say on the matter, since he Bubble Shield, and what Master Chief used in the trailer both look and function completely differently.**

**Now, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

**P.S.  
Remember to vote on the Poll on my profile. After a few days after the next chapter is done, I'm going to close the Poll, so if you have an opinion in regards to the Kasumi/Zaeed thing, be sure to vote.**

**

* * *

_Hours ago, the original mission on Korlus had ended in dismal failure. However, Okeer had died protecting his legacy. From what he said, it was a "pure" krogan. One with no flaws, and did not possess the brand of the genophage._**

It was at this moment that Shepard, now in normal attire, stood before the krogan's stasis tank. To his memory, that was the second stasis tank he stood before, and he wondered if having to wake up people/aliens from stasis would become a common thing, much like how he always helped out his crewmates with their own issues before the "final mission".

"_Subject is stable, Shepard. Integration with onboard systems was seamless," _EDI stated as Shepard stared down the tank.

"What can you tell me about this guy? Anything unusual?"

"_The subject is an exponential example of the krogan species, with fully formed primary, secondary, and tertiary organs, where applicable. No defects of any kind, aside from the genetic markers of the genophage present in all krogan. I cannot judge mental functioning."_

"Any idea how dangerous this guy is?"

"_He is a krogan, Shepard. If you are asking whether he is actively hostile, I don't have the necessary data to answer. Okeer's technology could impart data, not methods of thinking. The subject may know of his view, but would not necessarily share them."_

"Can he see anything in there?" Shepard asked as he locked eyes with the krogan. "Does he even know where he is?"

"_Unlikely. Current neural patterns indicate minimal cognition. Barring ship-wide power loss, the nutrients in the tank could sustain him for over a year."_

"Stand by. I'm going to open the tank and let him out," Shepard said after a few minute's debate.

"_Shepard, you are aware that the last time you awoke someone from a stasis pod, you were nearly crushed by their armor's weight, and also nearly had your face sheared off by his Energy Sword?" _EDI stated from a console.

"I'm well aware, and I've armed myself," Peter said motioning to the hidden weapon on his side, then looked into the tank. "Besides, unlike the last time, I can actually see that this krogan doesn't have any weapons on him."

"_I do not believe he _needs _weapons to rip you a new one," _EDI stated, causing Shepard to look at her warily. _"I am learning more _direct _terms for certain situations from the AI, Wynonna. She reasoned that if I do so, then I do not need to re-explain the meanings of my words, should they be more than most hear often. That aside, I am now opening the tank. Be ready."_

With that said, the tank slowly drained of its nutrient fluid, the construct leaning forward until it was perfectly vertical, the glass pane around the krogan opening sideways, sending him to the ground where he spit out the last of the nutrient fluid from his mouth.

As Shepard readied himself, the krogan blinked a few times, overcoming his grogginess before tackling Shepard into the nearest wall.

"Human. Male. Before you die, I need a name," the krogan growled, his voice a low rumble.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I don't' take threats lightly. I suggest you relax," he replied as the krogan held him by his throat.

"Not your name. _Mine_. I am trained. I know things, but the tank… Okeer couldn't implant the connection. His words are hollow," the krogan spoke. "Warlord, legacy, grunt… grunt. "Grunt" was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me," the newly-named Grunt demanded.

"You wouldn't prefer "Okeer." Or "Legacy?" Shepard asked.

"It's short. Matches the training in my blood. The other words are big things I don't feel. Maybe they fit your mouth better," Grunt responded. "I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do- fight and determine the strongest- but his imprint has failed. Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you."

"IS it that easy for Okeer's perfect krogan to abandon his mission?" Shepard asked.

"Okeer is just a voice in the tank. His imprints are true, then he created something stronger than him. So he's not worthy of me. And if his hatreds aren't strong enough to compel me, they've failed, too. I feel nothing. I have no connection."

"I have a good ship and a strong crew, a strong clan. You'd make it stronger," Shepard reasoned.

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you," the krogan responded.

"Our enemies are worthy. No doubt about that."

"Hmm. Hmph! That's… acceptable. I'll fight for you," Grunt responded.

"I'm glad you saw reason," Shepard said. When Grunt looked down, he saw that a gun had been held to his stomach the whole time.

"Hmm?" the krogan _hmmed, _finally taking notice. "Ha! Offer one hand, but arm the other. Wise, Shepard. If I find a clan, I find what I… I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you."

As Shepard turned to leave, he remembered someone else who was in a similar situation to Grunt, and decided to see if the two of them could be friends outside of combat.

"By the way, down in the cargo hold, I think there's someone you'd like to meet," Shepard said, hoping to get the two "soldiers" to relax a bit while not on missions. "He's like you, sort of. Trained to be the best, and stronger than any human I've met. You two would probably get along nicely."

"You say stronger like it bears some significance to be _mentioned_," Grunt responded. "Is it enough to match my strength?"

"Don't' know. Up 'til now, I could feel he was holding back. You'll recognize him immediately. Head-to-toe in red armor. A golden visor," he continued, then turned towards the tank. "A tank similar to yours."

"Hmmmm. After I pull something from Okeer's imprints together, I may consider it," Grunt responded before Shepard left.

* * *

At that time in the Normandy's _belly_, Jack sat by herself, her back against a wall and a sidearm within arm's reach reading her files taken from the Cerberus servers.

As she tossed another datapad aside and pulled up a new one, she heard deep footsteps coming down the stairs to her right. By the sounds of the footsteps, it had to be someone pretty big and heavy. Possibly the new krogan that Shepard had woken up the other day. However, when a red-armored soldier with a golden visor came down the steps carrying a tray of food, that she didn't see coming. When the figure got to the bottom of the steps, he looked around, then spotted Jack.

"Huh. Didn't think anyone was down here," he responded.

"Yeah, well I _am _here," Jack stated curtly. "What the hell are _you _doing here?"

"Trying to find a quiet spot to eat where everyone isn't waiting for me to remove my helmet," the armored figure answered. "The names Emil. I'm assuming you're Jack."

"That's me. How'd you know?"

"Pilot up front said something about some psycho bitch that would crush your skull like a grape," Emil answered flatly.

"Remind me to kill that crippled bastard later," Jack said sourly.

"I think Shepard needs him alive, otherwise we wouldn't have a pilot," Emil answered as he looked around. "Mind if I sit down? Everywhere else is either too open, or off-limits."

"I don't give a fuck," Jack answered as she pulled up another datapad.

"I appreciate this," Emil said as he twisted his helmet to the left, a low hissing noise drawing Jack's attention from what she was doing to the red-armored soldier. To her slight amusement however, all Emil did was lift the bottom of his helmet up and turn his back to her, his face not visible for the few minutes it took for him to finish his meal before he set the spoon down and twisted his helmet back into place after wiping his mouth clean, the suit sealing itself shut with a hiss.

"Why don't you just take that thing off like a normal person?" Jack asked. "Your immune system weak like a quarian's?"

"I haven't read that file yet," Emil answered. "And no, my immune system's fine. Stronger than most human's actually. I just prefer to keep my helmet on."

"And why exactly?"

"If I have it on, the chances of me surviving a head shot increase exponentially," Emil answered flatly. "Besides, I rarely took this thing off back _then, _and I'm certainly not going to start now. Not with those big ass _bugs _running around."

"The Collectors? Eh, they're just big bugs with guns," Jack spat. "Doesn't matter what species it is. It makes the same sound when you crush its skull."

"Ah, I see," Emil said, realizing that Joker had been correct in his assumption of Jack.

After that, things were quiet for a few minutes, a tense silence permeating the air.

"I heard when Shepard got to you you'd just come out of cryo," Emil stated, trying to start a conversation. "He said you were up and running in five seconds."

"Yeah. They put me on ice for a few years," Jack answered. "How 'bout you? How long were _you _in the cooler."

" . . . Twelve thousand years or so," Emil answered. The reaction he got was one he wasn't expecting.

"Ahahahahahaha! Oh yeah, twelve thousand years! That's a good one. Hahahahaha!" she laughed, practically holding her gut, but after a few seconds, realized Emil wasn't laughing. "Wait, you were serious?"

Emil simply crossed his arms and stated. "Does this look like a joking face to you?" he asked as he jabbed a thumb at his face.

"Can't really tell with that damn helmet," Jack answered. "But still, where the hell did Shepard pull _you _from?"

"A dead frigate in the middle of the Osus star system," Emil answered. "Had Shepard not gotten me out of there, my AI and I would've been incinerated when we hit the system's sun."

Jack resettled herself onto her cot, folding her arms behind her head before looking up at the Spartan. "So Emil, what's the deal with your outfit? No one these days wears armor plating. It's usually weaved, and made of titanium and kevlar. From the way you're clonking around, it souds like you're wearing something heavier."

"I could ask the same about yours," Emil said flatly. "Or_ lack_ thereof," he amended, taking note of how the convict only wore a pair of shorts, and a set of belts over her chest.

"Touché," Jack replied. "Though I don't know rather to take that as a compliment, or an insult," she said as she let a bit of Biotic energy dance across her arm.

"So. Mind if I ask your life story, or would you rather have me get out?" Emil asked after the energy dancing across her fingers ceased. "It doesn't really matter to me whichever you pick. I'd just like to know who's going to be at my flank is all."

Jack shrugged her shoulders as she sat up in her bed. "Turns out, mess with someone's head enough, you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch," she narrated, then she gestured to her tattoos. "As for these, some are for kills. You know, good ones. And some are because, hey, why the fuck not," she so eloquently stated. "I ran with gangs. Wiped _out _some gangs. Joined a cult. Kept the haircut. Broke every rule in the book. Twice. After that, the cocky bastards caught up with me, threw me into cryo on the Purgatory, and then Shepard pulls me out next thing I know."

Emil just nodded. Sounded simple enough. Got taken as a kid. Experimented on. Ran away. Fought a few times. Normal stuff. In _that _galaxy anyway. Similar to himself really, though _he _went back with the ones who took him.

"So Red. What's your story?" Jack asked, calling him Red for obvious reasons. "It's only fair since I've told you mine."

Emil just shrugged as he took a seat across from Jack. "Mine's kind of similar to yours. Scientists took me from my family when I was six. Replaced me with a clone. Experimented on me. Put my body through hell. Made me into a one-man army, and practically indestructible."

"Replaced you with a clone?" Jack asked, catching that one part in particular. "What the hell kind of program were _you_ in?"

Emil sighed as he leaned his head back against a wall. "I tell you, you keep this quiet from Shepard. Deal? I haven't really told him this part yet, and I'd rather not. It isn't something he really needs to know. Don't want that therapist upstairs trying to _fix _me. The lady would probably use it as an excuse to take off my helmet."

"Deal," Jack answered. Though she'd only heard a little bit at the beginning, this guy's story seemed interesting enough. He could get some gnarly tattoos made if his story was as extreme as hers.

"It was part of the SPARTAN II program," Emil started with a sigh. "The scientists searched whole colonies for children who were suitable test subjects. Smart, determined, strong, a head taller than the rest if they were lucky. Obviously, I was one of them. They took me to the lab, performed some experiments, and started training me to be a super soldier. I played nice, for a few years. Then when I hit fourteen, me and some of the other kids held up a few scientists. Made our escape and managed to find an untraceable shuttle off world. After a few weeks of ducking from those scientists at the facility as they tried to get us back, a sidearm as my only companion once our little group split, I finally made it back to my home planet. Home was a nice place by the shore. Blue skies. Plenty of trees. It was home. To me anyway. I remember it was autumn."

"What happened when you got there?" Jack asked. "From what I can tell, you didn't chose to stay," she said stating the obvious.

"When I got there, to my house, I saw a kid in a wheelchair looking at the flowers," Emil continued. "When whoever it was registered my presence, I met… myself."

"Huh?"

"Well, not myself exactly. A few years later, I learned that who- _what_ I met, was a Flash Clone," Emil answered after correcting himself.

"So what exactly is a Flash Clone, and why was there one of you at your house?" Jack asked.

"When the guys in the SPARTAN II program found worthwhile candidates, they'd take us from our families at the best opportunity. Usually when no one was watching," Emil answered. "Afterwards, they'd create a Flash Clone and leave it in our place. After all, if hundreds of kids started going missing all across the different settlements, people would tend to notice and start asking questions. I was number 356, so I can only guess they took somewhere between 400 and 500. Only reason I figure _that_ is because they probably like to keep the numbers even and consistent."

"So you had a gun, and you were back home," Jack said. "The only thing standing between you and your old life was a clone. What happened that made you go back?"

Emil sighed as his mind drifted back, everything practically folding out in front of him.

"I had the gun at my side. I could've killed… that thing. Go back to my family. To the way things were before," he continued with a pause. "But then… he said something to me that just made me stop. Now that I look back on it, I don't really _know _why. With the way I was trained, I should've been able to kill... _it_, and not even care"

"Something that can stop a guy who can kill a krogan in a single punch. This outta be good," Jack chuckled to herself, causing Emil to give her a strange look. Sorta. "Let's just say a little birdie told me and leave it at that," Jack responded. After hearing the mission report, and how he'd uppercut a crazed krogan clone to death with one hit, that kind of thing amused her.

For a moment, Emil sighed, then told what the Flash Clone had said.

"Sometimes, I have this dream. Always the same dream, I dream I'm strong. Stronger than anyone. Like you. Just like you are," Emil narrated. "Those are the words he said to me. Like I said, now that I think about it, words shouldn't have gotten to me."

_Pheh. Pussy,_ Jack thought to herself. _Words never stopped _me _before. Of course, I usually kill them first, but that's beside the point._

"After that, I heard a woman's voice. My mother's, calling out to me- no, to him. The clone just looked me in the eyes, a smile on his face like he'd been waiting to meet me his whole life. After that, I bolted down the driveway, down the street, and out of the town into the mountains as fast as my legs could carry me, my hometown getting smaller and smaller in the distance behind me. I kept running and running until I thought my legs were going to explode. Eventually, I stopped on a mountainside and let the scientists pick me up afterwards. Apparently, they'd _wanted_ me to see that back there. To feel like I had no other place to go besides the SPARTAN II program. It worked."

"So you went back to training, went under the knife a few times, and was trained to be a soldier," Jack concluded. "If you went that way, what happened to your replacement?"

"Once I finished my training, I looked my family up. Found out that _Emil _had died a month after my visit due to Metabolic Cascade Failure," Emil finished. "That's the problem with Flash Clones. They're accelerated to 100 times their normal maturing speed so they can replace us quickly and effectively, but that just causes them to die sooner due to physical complications. I suppose it doesn't matter though. The clones were meant to die. Cut the ties between a Spartan and his family. They lived the lives meant for us, regardless of how short _theirs_ were."

"Damn. I thought _I _had it bad, but you, you could write books," Jack said, half-jokingly.

Emil got up from his seat and put everything onto his tray. "I'm no writer. I'm a soldier, designed to follow orders and kill what's in my way. That's all I am," he said as he walked up the stairs, leaving the convict on her own.

"Good grief, I was only joking," Jack sighed. "Well, half-joking anyway," she finished as she continued to go through her data pads.

* * *

_**The next day.**_

At that moment, Shepard had headed up to the ship's cockpit to have a nice normal chat with joker. It was good to get an honest opinion from someone who wasn't a soldier every once in a while. Helped keep his mind of the great weith placed on his shoulders.

"Joker. Can I ask your opinion on Emil?" Shepard asked with crossed arms as he leaned against a wall.

"Emil? Haven't seen his face, but he seems like an okay guy," the pilot asked as he turned his seat around. "At least it's better than having another crazed krogan or a psychotic convict running loose on my ship anyway."

"Anything else I should know?" Shepard asked.

"The good thing about there being another AI on this ship is that EDI can talk to someone _else _for a change," Joker whispered to shepard. "Since Wynonna's been around, EDI's been bugging me less than she did before."

"_Mr. Moreau, you are aware that I can hear you, correct?" _EDI asked from the console.

Her answer came in the form of Joker slamming his thumb on the mute button.

"I'm considering installing a clapper for that thing," Joker told Shepard half-jokingly as he held up his slightly-reddened right thumb. "Think my requisition will ever get through?"

"_Shepard. It appears that there's a disturbance in the cargo hold," _EDI stated as she appeared from the console once more, the mute function appearing short-lived.

"Didn't I mute you three seconds ago?" Joker asked.

"_Should problems within the ship arise, the mute function can be easily overridden," _EDI answered. _"In practical circumstances, the mute button is merely aesthetic."_

"What kind of disturbance?" Shepard asked. _Any _kind of disturbance was bad, despite how large or small it was.

"_It appears that Grunt and Emil have begun a tug of war contest in the hangar shortly after their first interraction,"_ EDI stated. _"I do not possess enough data to determine if there will be a clear-cut winner, but the only thing I can say for certain is that if left unchecked, untold damage could be caused to the inside of the ship."_

"Joker, keep the ship on course to the next Mass Relay," Shepard instructed as he left the cockpit. "I'm going down to the cargo hold and get this sorted out."

"Aye aye captain," Joker replied as he turned his chair around.

* * *

When Shepard got out of the elevator to the platform above the cargo hold, Shepard was a bit surprised to find a few people from most branches of the ship's crew at the windows. Down bellow, the red-armored human and the silver-armored krogan appeared to be pulling on a thick black cable from the cargo hold's port and starboard sides. Said cable was wrapped around their forearms as they pulled, and it didn't seem like either were going anywhere any time soon despite the amount of strength they appeared to be using.

"Donnelly. Daniels. What's going on down there?" Shepard asked as he addressed the two engineers.

"Ah, Shepard, the two _tank_ boys appear to have gotten into a bit of a scuffle," Donelly stated as he pointed to the two down in the cargo hold, still pulling on the thick black cord which was wrapped around their forearms.

"What exactly are they using?" Shepard asked, not familiar with what exactly the two were using.

"That would appear to be the ship's emergency diamond-filament towing cable, sir," Daniels answered.

"So it's unbreakable then?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, but I wouldn't say the same for _them. _Or the ship," Donnelly answered.

"I'm going down there to resolve this," Shepard said as he called up the elevator. "Stay here, but please try to get everyone back to their posts."

"Aye aye commander," Donnelly replied as Shepard stepped into the elevator. The moment Shepard left, Donnelly got everyone's attention. "Okay everyone, I'm taking bets. Who do you think's going to win? The krogan or the human?"

"No contest. The krogan's gonna win," one guy said.

"What about Emil?" a female from navigations asked. "He's held his own this far."

"Ah, the krogan's just messing with him," another man said. "Just wait and see. He'll win this."

"500 says the human wins," Daniels said. "You girls with me?"

"Yeah!" the gathered females answered strongly.

"Deal!" the gathered males said, the group dividing into male-female factions as Shepard approached the two.

From where they were standing, Shepard approached the two warring figures, both pulling on the unbreakable cord with everything they had as the commander tried to get them to resolve this peacefully.

For a minute, it appeared that the three of them were arguing, but since Emil was wearing a helmet, it was hard to tell what he was saying, and they couldn't read Shepard's lips either because he was facing away from them, so that only left the krogan. That itself didn't leave much to interpretation because he had lizard lips.

After another minute of what appeared to be debate, Emil twisted the cord around his forearm once more before giving it a quick tug, yanking the krogan off his feet and high over his head into the stack of crates behind him, a visibly shocked look on both Shepard and the krogan's face before the latter was buried under the boxes.

With that said and done, Emil wound up the cable, dumped it into a crate, and dusted his hands off as he went back to his corner of the cargo hold, using a few stacked up crates to form walls until his requisition for modular walls came through. Some privacy was better than _no _privacy.

With that, Donnelly was completely speechless, as were all the males as the gathered women cheered and gave each other high fives.

"Looks like we win boys," Daniels said smugly. "That'll be 500 creds apiece."

The gathered males just groaned as they brought out their omni-tools and transferred the funds from their accounts, Donnelly himself more upset at this.

* * *

After Emil and Grunt's brief… scuffle, Shepard ordered the two of them aside for what would be equivalent to a lecture on doing something so stupid as using the ship's emergency diamond-filament in a simple test of their own strength.

Of course, considering the emergency diamond-filament towing cable was unbreakable, the conversation itself wasn't one of the most… inspiring you'd ever heard.

After the _talk, _Grunt returned to his spot in the cargo hold one floor above, Emil heading up for the tech lab, and then the armory before going to bed. Or pod. Whatever. You can sleep in both.

* * *

When Emil entered the tech lab, he did it as quietly as he could, hoping his thunderous footsteps wouldn't intimidate the salarian doctor. From what he'd learned of their species, they were an amphibian race, and due to their relatively-short lifespan, they had to rush through life, leaving no time to contemplate or reminisce about stuff.

Though salarians talked quickly, Emil could talk just as quickly due to his own augmentations, but he figured he'd save the fast talk for later. "Dr. Mordin. Do you have a moment?"

The doctor looked up from what he was doing. Then up again at the golden visor of the red-armored soldier. "Emil. Greetings. Just working on testing new bioweapon. Not on us of course, but had to allay Joker's fears. Anyway, what brings you here?"

"How are the chargers and the re-modding of my assault rifle going?" Emil asked crossing his arms.

"For the latter, you would have to talk to Mr. Taylor. As for the prior, Wynonna has completed the blueprints for the Splaser's charger, and one for the Covenant Energy Sword you carry. From what she told me, you have something else that needs to be recharged?"

Emil reached behind his back and put the Shield Charge onto the table. "Yeah. I was wondering if you could put a charge back into this thing. Pretty useful if it can stop Collector weapons, and I was just wondering. Don't really need it, but maybe Shepard or someone else could use it."

"You do realize this is the _third _weapon charger you have asked for?" Dr. Mordin replied. "Still, no harm done. I do love a good challenge, and your world's weapon technology fascinates me."

"Well, I should get going and check on Jacob then. It was nice talking to you Dr. Mordin," Emil said as he left the room.

"Likewise," the doctor answered as he began to examine the new piece of technology.

* * *

Emil entered the armory in the same way he had entered the tech lab. Trying to keep quiet footsteps as to not scare him.

Jacob seemed like a nice guy, and from what he'd read about this galaxy's Earth, it had become a festering point for an entire planet of racists. It was bad enough that where he came from, that humans were having trouble with their _own_ kind, but here, humans lashed out at every _other _species, _and _their own. When you're surrounded by potential enemies on all sides, being an ass isn't exactly the smartest move. Especially when the majority of your species has their head up their ass, and the other species has bigger guns. Potentially speaking.

"Jacob," Emil stated as he stepped behind the man, who at the moment was working on re-fitting his MA5B Assault Rifle to take heat sinks, a more versatile form of ammunition if what he'd researched had been correct.

When the man turned around, then looked up, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Christ! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I apologize. I merely came here to see how the refitting of my new weapon is going."

"You do realize I practically have to refit every part inside this thing don't you?" Jacob asked. "Why not just use one of the assault rifles from the armory here?"

"This weapon has… sentimental value to me," Emil answered. "I want to hold onto the _few _things from my world, since they're few enough as it is."

Jacob just sighed as he went back to working on the weapon. "Yeah, well, after a week's work, I should have this thing refitted to use heat sinks. Your pistol was easier because of its size and firing rate, but this assault rifle is a whole different level. Had to custom order parts so that the specs of the weapon will be the same."

"And I appreciate the work you're putting into it," Emil said as he pat the man on the shoulder, nearly sending him to the floor had he not braced himself.

"Emil, is there any _other_ reason you're having me refit this thing?" Jacob asked as he pointed at the dismantled rifle laying across his table. "From a guy like you, I find it hard to believe that you're merely having this done for purely sentimental purposes."

At that, Emil pulled up one of the assault rifles, looked it over, then set it back down on the table.

"Mine has more chest hair than these," he said pointing out the difference in design between his and the other assault rifle. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to sleep before the next mission. Good luck with the refitting."

"Yeah, yeah," Jacob sighed as he placed his goggles back on his head and began soldering circuits into place.

**

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:  
I am aware that the backstory that Emil talked about with Jack is pretty much the same as Daisy-023's in ****Halo Legends: Homecoming, for those of you who saw the resemblance****. The key difference however was that he only has the memories from that day to remind him of that time, and not a keychain like with Daisy. The planet and location were different as well.  
Also, when I was making Emil's armor description (and by that I primarily mean the primary color), I honestly had no idea that Emil-356 and Daisy-023 had the same armor color. Just saying.  
Just as a side-note, I don't intend for their eyes and hair to be the same color either (Daisy's I know are blue and blond, so Emil's won't be).**


	6. Dossier: The Engineer

At the moment, Commander Shepard, Jack, Grunt, and Emil, were heading to the planet Haestrom via shuttle, the third planet in the Dholen system located in the outer rim.

Their mission was to recruit Tali'Zorah, an old acquaintance of Shepard's, for the team since her expert engineer and machinist skills, knowledge of systems hacking, and combat tech would make her a valuable member to the team. At the moment, she along with a squad of quarian marines and scientists were stationed on the planet, but for what reason was yet unknown. However, the fact that the planet was located in Geth space, and since the synthetic's numbers were unknown, a four-person cell was merely a precaution. The Geth and the Quarians don't exactly have the best history.

It had been a few days since both Jack and Grunt had joined the team, and it was time to see what they could do. Jack was listed as the most powerful human Biotic in the galaxy, while Grunt, looking to sate his hunger for violence, was naturally selected to join, so as to see the late Okeer's work in action.

And hopefully prevent him from going wild on their shiny new frigate.

As for Emil being included in what was normally a three-person cell, he had just gotten his MG6 Pistol modified to take heat sinks, the MA5B Assault Rifle about a week behind it, and wanted to test it out after what had happened on planet Korlus.

And by that, I mean that the mercs there were practically fish in a barrel.

For the past few days, he had been drilling training vids on every different ammo type into his skull, then training in the firing range for hours on end to get the feel of his new weapon. At first Dr. Chakwas was concerned with the excessive vid, simulator, and firing range time the Spartan was putting in, but after Dr. Mordin pointed out that with his physiology he could potentially double his current output and still be fine, she reluctantly yielded, though stated that if his health started to deteriorate, then heads would roll.

The shoulder-mounted Spartan Laser, having expended the last of its energy on Korlus after killing 'that chatty bitch' Jedore, was left with Jacob in the armory, while he and Dr. Mordin began work on the Splaser's charger.

Emil's presence had certainly given them a full plate.

Anyway, as the shuttle neared the planet, Emil noted that this would be his first time meeting anyone _remotely_ similar to his home's Marines. For the majority of the trip, a sense of nostalgia washed over him until Grunt, still upset about being yanked off his feet and into a wall of crates a few days ago like a ragdoll, butted him in the side of the head with his shotgun, telling him to get ready with the sound that his name was derived from.

After securing all the valves on his suit, and running system diagnostics to see that everything was working alright, Wynonna set the MG6 MK 2 for Disruptor Ammo, which, according to the training vids, were perfect for use against synthetic beings. By proxy, any and all Geth.

A concept Emil was still trying to wrap his head around. But he was getting used to the new universe.

After this mission, he would begin training with Incindiary and Armor Piercing rounds. Later would be Shredder, Cryo, Impact, and if later applicable, Warp. Compared to Shepard, who had mastered all ammo types, Emil was still a few leagues behind the commander, and didn't want to be a soldier forever, actually considering assuming a leadership role sometime in the future once the mission to stop the Collectors had ended.

Provided he'd survived that is.

* * *

As the potential landing site came into view from the shuttle window, Emil nudged his commander's shoulder, a question on his mind.

"I've been reading about the Quarians and the Geth. It said the Quarians _created _the Geth right?"

"That is correct," Shepard replied. "However, the geth soon betrayed the quarians, and forced them off their home planet."

"From the way I saw it, the only reason the Geth forced the Quarians off their home world was because they were facing the extinction of their… race, if that's the correct word for it," Emil stated. "Wouldn't that make their actions justified?"

"That's a touchy subject with the quarian race," Shepard replied simply. "My best advice would be to not bring it up too much."

Emil simply nodded. "I also read that quarians are _especially _adamant against the existence of AI. I'm guessing I should keep Wynonna to myself then too, huh?"

"No shit," Jack muttered.

"Most quarians maybe, but I'm sure if you approached Tali properly and explained your situation, that maybe she'd understand you keeping her around," Shepard stated.

"That's going to be a lot of talking," Emil sighed. "EDI. Is there anything I could use to make a video or something that I can explain my origins without having to do it myself? From how long it took me to be debriefed, I imagine that it would be more time-effective if I had all of that recorded on a video or something in case someone asked."

"_I will have someone on the Normandy set it up before you return," _EDI answered.

"Thank you," Emil said as the ship began to descend to the planet, the familiar red haze of atmospheric re-entry crawling along the edges of the windows as the shuttle approached the planet.

* * *

"_Shepard. Our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins," _EDI spoke as the shuttle touched down on the planet, for some reason careful to park directly in the shade and away from the sunlight. _"There is considerable Geth activity, and environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields."_

Then, as if it were God's way of emphasizing that point, Emil's gaze followed a small orange-shelled insect-like creature scurry off into the sunlight, then, moments later, burst into flames and smolder until there was nothing left but ash.

"_Huh. Smells like fried chicken," _Wynonna said from Emil's shoulder.

"How the hell would you know? You're an AI. You can't smell anything," Jack stated.

"_You forget that I'm fully linked into Emil's nervous system,"_ Wynonna stated. _"Any sensation he's experiencing while we're synched, I automatically know."_

"Don't talk like you're not sitting on my own shoulder," Emil sighed.

"_Sorry. I can't help it. It's in my programming," _Wynonna apologized.

"That aside, EDI, do you have the data required to tell me if whether or not _my _shields will be any better off?" Emil asked.

"_According to the specs taken from your armor, I would believe that you have a 50% duration period before the solar radiation disables your shields," _EDI noted.

"Good to know. Maybe we can just hide behind Gigantor here," Jack said nudging the Spartan's side with her elbow.

"I don't appreciate being used as mobile cover," Emil quipped as he looked at the downhill slope before him. "I'll go down first so that way I don't have to wait behind any of you."

"Why? How fast can you run?" Jack asked.

"At the fastest… Maybe eighty to a hundred miles an hour," Emil answered nonchalantly. "But only with a running start. Depending on my traction."

" . . . _Damn_!" Jack swore.

"Oh don't pretend it's such a big deal. You can use your biotics to create singularities and gravity disruptions with a flick of your wrist," Emil quipped as he ran down the hill at Olympic speeds, his shields hardly being affected at all. The others soon followed behind but nowhere _near _those speeds.

When the group got to the bottom of the hill, they came upon a large steel gate, which appeared to be locked. To the side was a metal door with the glowing ring still active. When they got inside, they saw what looked like a once-active work area, a few quarian bodies scattered around, an old recording set on repeat.

"_Emergency Log Entry. The Geth are here. I've stayed to buy the others some time. Anyone who gets this, find Tali'Zorah. She and that data are all that matters. Keelah se'lai."_

Upon activating the control panel, the metal gate barring off the next area lowering, the group went into the next shaded area. However, they soon stopped as a geth dropship flew by, sending three Geth Troopers into the ground.

"Take cover," Shepard said as the geth started firing.

"Jack! Use one of your biotics to send one of those geth my way!" Emil shouted as he ducked under enemy fire.

"Okay. One geth coming your way," Jack said as she focused the eezo in her systems. Almost instantly, the geth trooper in the rear of the formation was hoisted in the air before being sent towards the crates that Emil was using for cover.

The next moment his muscled hand yanked the geth out of the air by its neck, Emil taking his pistol and shooting the geth through the flashlight until it stopped moving.

"Remind me to do that more often, that was badass," Jack said as Shepard fired with his assault rifle, Grunt running through the enemy fire and tackling one of the troopers into a wall.

After the group advanced forward once more, they came upon another formation of geth troopers, forcing them to take cover once more.

"Shepard. I see another route to our right," Grunt said as he put his back to the wall.

"Yeah, but it's right in the sun. Whoever went up their would have their shields fried in a few minutes," Shepard answered.

"Not _all _of us," Jack said as she turned her attention to the armored Spartan.

" . . . Fine, I'll go. Once I get to the other side, I'll put them in a pincer formation," Emil said as he sprinted up the ramp and down the path, ducking under whatever cover he could to conserve his shield energy. However, when he got a quarter of the way down, two more geth troopers started shooting at him.

"_Now setting pistol for Disrupter Ammo," _Wynonna stated as the weapon's ammo counter turned blue, the image of a bullet surrounded by lightning appearing.

"Got it!" Emil said as he took aim and plugged four rounds into each of the geth, bringing their shields down before he lifted one of the crates he was using for cover over his head and chucked it at the geth troopers, flattening one and distracting the second long enough for him to rush it, driving its shoulder into its chassis before hoisting it above its head, ripping it in two with a mighty heave before a hail of bullets struck at his left flank.

When he looked at his HUD, he saw that there were three more troopers down at the end of the last stretch. He quickly jumped to the side and into an indention in the wall. When he looked down, he saw a downed quarian sprawled out on his back, and in his hands was an M-92 Manits. Beside it were a few heat sinks.

"Sorry ma'am," Emil said as he pried the device loose from the marine's hands, now knowing that aliens succumbed to rigor mortise as well, loading the heat sinks in before poking his head around the corner, extending his rifle before taking aim at the three troopers. After they went down with holes through their flashlights, he got to his feet, his fingers tracing a cross over his chest before he ran down to the end of the high road, then ran down the sunned ramp before taking cover behind a pillar.

When he got there, Shepard, Jack, and Garrus were already beneath the shade of the next door, numerous geth bodies strewn around.

"Hey, what took you so long? You never showed up for that pincer formation," Jack stated.

"I ran into a couple of complications," Emil answered.

"Like what?"

"What _else _on this planet could amount as a _complication_?" Emil asked, an eyebrow raised beneath his helmet.

" . . . Touché," Jack returned.

"No good. The door's locked. We'll have to go around," Shepard said as he lead the group to the right and around said corner, coming to the back flank of two geth troopers shooting at an injured quarian. Wasting no time, the group opened fire on the two, momentarily changing their attention before they were gunned down.

Emil was the first to move forward, only to find the quarian marine gunned down, his shoulders slumping as he let out a defeated sigh.

"What's with him?" Grunt asked.

"He worked with Marines once before, so seeing marines gunned down like this is obviously a bit of a blow to him," Shepard sighed, not noticing Emil drawing a cross across his chest before moving on.

* * *

The moment the group moved into the next area, the group looked down in time to notice a bloodied radio in the hands of one of the downed quarians, still transmitting.

_"OP__-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, do you copy? The geth sent a dropship to OP-2. Tali'Zorah's secure, but we need backup. We're bunkered up here. Can you support?"_

Shepard took the device in his hand, wiping a bit of blood off of it before bringing the speaker to his ear.

"_OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, come in, over!"_

"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. I passed a lot of dead quarians on the way in. You're the first survivor I found," he said speaking into it.

"_Damn. Wait, Shepard? The Spectre Tali worked with? Don't know why you're here, but right now, any organic is a welcome sight. Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta. We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us." _

Overhearing the heads up, everyone changed their radio frequencies before the quarian continued.

"_They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data through the solar radiation."_

"What's the status of your team? How many are left?" Shepard asked.

"_We were a small squad. Dozen marines, plus the science team. We're down to half strength now. Made the synthetic bastards pay for it though."_

"Any idea where the geth came from?"

"_One of the patrol ships found us. Drop ships started raining geth down on our heads before we could get off-world. System's under geth control. We knew they made planetary sweeps periodically. We'd hoped going low-emissions would hide us."_

"Do we have to worry about the geth sending reinforcements?"

"_I don't think so. Their patrol ship hasn't lifted off again, and the solar radiation blocks all offworld communication."_

"What brought you this deep into geth-controlled space?"

"_You're asking the wrong person Shepard. I just point and shoot. Something about the sun, it's going bad faster than it should. Some kind of energy problem."_

"What's the status on Tali'Zorah?" Emil asked, wanting to know how she was doing, and whether or not he should ask Shepard if he should break off from the group and save her by himself. If she was really that important to the success of the mission, then surely securing her safety as soon as possible would be the best option, regardless of whether Shepard was at the forefront of it or not.

"_Who is this?" _Reegar asked over the radio.

"Uh… This is the Red Spartan, currently working under Shepard's command," Emil answered.

"_Odd name for a merc, but fine, there's no harm in asking," _Reegar replied, Emil thanking that his ploy actually worked and that no questions were asked. _"She's currently locked down in the rear of the valley in a secure bunker, but there are geth bearing down on the door. She's safe for now, but I don't know how long I can distract them."_

"Wait, you're actually _there_? Right _now_?" Emil asked.

"_Yeah. I've got a rocket launcher that hasn't gotten fried," _Reegar answered, the sound of explosions ringing in the background. _"I'm holding them off the best I can, but I don't think I can hold them off forever."_

"How are _you_ at the moment?" Emil asked.

"_Ah, I messed up. I've got a suit breach, and I'm swimming in antiobiotics," _Reegar confessed, then suddenly paused. _"Wait! Watch your ass! We've got a geth dropship coming in."_

At that moment, the purple insect-like geth dropship flew through the air, it's _belly _facing a large stone pillar on the three pinned quarian's right. The next moment it shot them with a pair of rockets, then flew off as a loud groaning sound echoed through the air, the massive stone structure bearing down on top of them.

"No!"

At that moment, Emil's leg tensed before he broke formation from the group creating a foot-deep crater where his foot once was, stopping between the injured marines in a flash of red before catching the fallen pillar over his shoulders, instantly falling to his knees with a deafening thud as its massive weight was brought down upon him.

The next moment, the gathered geth began focusing all their fire on the Spartan's back, much to everyone's shock that he seemed practically unmoving, like the rounds were simply bouncing off of him, or he simply didn't feel it at all.

"Emil!" Shepard shouted, thinking Emil was about to be crushed under the pillar's weight as his legs began to shake, his back having been a target for a two full minutes by now.

The next moment however, Emil thrust the pillar over his shoulders with a mighty heave, dropping it directly behind him. As a shocked look was exchanged between the quarian's faces, Emil leapt over the pillar and shot down the remaining geth, rounds bouncing off his armor all the while. Once the area was cleared of hostiles, he made a motion of wiping the sweat from his brow before dropping down to the injured quarians.

"Are you three alright?" he asked as he kneeled beside the injured quarians, a look of concern hidden behind his golden visor.

"Uh… I… Ah…" the quarians _uhed_, _Ied, _and _ahed_, completely dumbstruck by what they just saw.

"Hey. Marine. Speak up," Emil said as he tapped a finger on the nearest quarian's visor, nearly making him fall over. "Shepard! I cleared the hostiles, but I think something's wrong with these marines!"

The two groups could only gawk at what they'd just seen.

* * *

A minute later after applying some medi-gel to the injured marines and entering the next room.

"I'm just saying. That column should've weighed _several _tons, yet you lifted it over your head without any Biotics at all," Shepard said as the group walked through the metal door. The room they entered itself was completely windowless, consoles all around, as were dead quarians and downed geth.

"Yeah. How the hell'd you do that?" Jack asked, seeming not to notice the movement on the floor coming towards them.

"Hold that thought," Emil said as he readjusted the quarians on his back, taking his gun and shooting a geth that was paralyzed from the waist down in the eye before setting the three down and turning back to the convict. "Now, you were saying?"

"I was asking how the hell you lifted that huge stone pillar by yourself without biotics," Jack repeated.

"Those would be the force multiplying circuits in this armor," Emil answered. "While I have this armor in it multiplies my strength by considerable degrees. Heck, lifting that shuttle we came in would be easy with this suit's tech."

"So if someone has one of those things, they could become even stronger than a krogan?" Jack asked hypothetically, ignoring the growling noise coming from Grunt's throat.

"While it may be true that this suit is very powerful, only a fully-augmented SPARTAN is capable of using it," Emil amended. "When I'm in my armor, I weigh around 980 pounds. Outside it, I weigh around 270. And the majority of that is muscle mass. Even with Biotics, you'd need to be streaming out a constant supply of it if you wanted to use this armor without falling flat on your back. Which, by the way, weighs 720 pounds."

"Well shit, I was wondering why the shuttle seemed to be straining. You practically weigh a thousand pounds," Jack commented.

"_Come in base camp. Come in base camp," _a feminine voice suddenly said from one of the consols.

"Shh," Shepard said, silencing his team as he made his way across the room and to a console.

"_Hello? Is anyone there?" _the voice on the other end of the console asked. When Emil looked at the hologram coming from it, he saw the image of a quarian female with a slender frame, and a purple veil with gold trim on her head.

"Tali, it's Shepard. We managed to rescue three marines, but any other survivors must've fallen back," Shepard answered.

"_Really? Well, that's certainly a relief," _the Tali hologram sighed. _"I had thought that there wasn't anyone left aside from Reegar and myself. But what are you doing here, Shepard? We're in the middle of geth space."_

"I was in the neighborhood. Thought you might need a hand," Shepard replied playfully.

"_Thanks for coming. It means a lot to hear your voice," _Tali replied.

"I see you two are close," Emil said behind Shepard, but suddenly slapped is hand over his mouth for saying that out loud.

"_Who was that?" _the Tali hologram asked trying to peer around Shepard.

"Oh, that was Emil. He's a new recruit, and was actually the one who saved the three marines a few minutes before," Shepard said, giving credit where credit was due.

"_Ah, well, thank you Emil. I'm sure their families appreciate what you did," _Tali replied.

"I appreciate the thanks, but from what I last heard from Reegar, we don't exactly have the benefit of time on our side," Emil said back. "Can you tell us where you are? We can be there in a few minutes."

"_You're right. We can discuss details later," _the hologram replied. _"Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field."_

"Do you have what you need?" Emil asked. "Once we get to you, we may need to get out of here in a hurry. We've got injured quarians that need more than just field care."

"_I have what I need, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of geth outside."_

"Mind if I ask what you're researching?"

"_It's about this world's sun. It's aging faster than it should. I can tell you more once we've got fewer geth shooting at us."_

"It looks like somebody sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Could you get it open from your end?" Shepard asked.

"_Let me see…" _Tali replied as she began typing on keys at her end. _"Yes, I can do it. Here. It should be unlocked now. Be careful Shepard, and please, do what you can to keep Reegar alive."_

"You can count on us," Shepard said as he shut off the transmission. A second later, the latch on the door unlocked, and the orange halo mark on the door turned green, signaling that it was working.

"Okay listen up you three. We're going on ahead, and we need you to stay here and watch our backs," Emil said as he passed the three injured quarians some assault rifles from one of the tables. "This room is the only way in and out of the valley aside from the air. We'll pick you up on the way out, but until then, we need you to make sure nothing comes through that door. Am I understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" the three marines said with salutes, taking their assault rifles and keeping them aimed at the door they just came through.

"Huh. Never would've imagined _you _giving the orders," Grunt grunted.

"Just because I don't lead doesn't mean I can't," Emil sighed as he reloaded his weapons, then followed Shepard to the next area.

* * *

When the door closed behind the four, five if you count Wynonna, they came upon a large stone-borne room, the only exit to the left. Lining the wall across from them were thick metal shutters, a lone console in the middle.

Seeing as how the door wouldn't open, the only option was to use the console and override the security measure on the door. However, when that was done, the shutters came down, giving everyone a clear view of the end of the valley, the observatory on the other end.

Unfortunately, for the geth and geth colossus that were crawling all over the place, they too got a clear view to Shepard, Emil, Grunt, and Jack. A moment later the colossus locked onto them with its face and fired its plasma cannon at them.

"Ah. Exactly what I was waiting for. Something _big _to kill," Grunt said with a lizard smile.

"Son of a…" Jack cursed as the geth colossus turned their sights on them.

"Get down!" Emil shouted as he tackled Grunt and Jack to the ground, the latter's landing softer than the prior, though Grunt could handle getting thrown around.

The next moment the space by the console exploded, everyone heading for the room's second exit as the geth suddenly turned their attention from the door to the new wave of intruders.

The group then made their way down the ramps and into the end of the valley. When they got there, they were greeted by the sight of a red-armored male quarian with a rocket launcher huddled against one of the walls.

"I'm assuming you're Reegar," Emil said as he ducked down under laser fire, which was a little easier said than done for him given his large frame.

"That's me," the marine replied. "Still got no idea why you're here, but this ain't no time to be picky."

The next moment the area shuddered under geth fire, dust and debris flying over their heads.

"Tali's inside over there. The geth just killed the rest of my squad, and now they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention," he said as he adjusted his grip on his rocket launcher.

"Are you sure she's still alive?" Shepard asked.

"The observatory is reinforced. Even the geth will need time to get through it. And it's hard to hack a door when someone's firing rockets at you," he said humorously. "The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself. I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move closer, and one of those bastards punched a hole clean through my suit."

"How bad is the damage?" Emil asked.

"Like I said before, there's been a breach, and I'm swimming in antibiotics right now. Combat seals clamped down to isolate contamination, but there's no way I'm going to die from an infection in the middle of a battle. That's just insulting."

"The right side's got a catwalk with a sniper perch. You could wreak some havoc from there, but none of my men made it past the geth. The middle's got cover, but that damn colossus has a clear shot at you the whole time, and you've got geth coming in from both sides. The left gives you some cover from the colossus, but your ass is hanging out for the geth. That's how I ended up getting shot," Reegar explained.

"Come up with any plans while they've been taking pot shots at you?" Emil asked.

"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. While you four move in, I'll keep the colossus busy, and maybe even drop its shields. With some luck you'll be able to finish it off," Reegar said as he holstered his rocket launcher.

"Reegar, you've done plenty, and no offense intended, but you're handing on by a thread," Emil said trying to be as sincere as possible. "Let us handle this. There's no need to throw your life away."

"I wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe. This is our best shot," Reegar said as he got up over the rafter to fire a shot.

The next moment Emil yanked Reegar behind the wall like he was a ragdoll. "We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team. Stay down!"

"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire," Reegar argued. "They killed my whole squad."

"And if you want to honor your squad, you'll watch our backs. I need you here in case they bring in any reinforcements," Shepard said as Emil began to weigh his options.

"All right Shepard. We'll do it your way," Reegar answered. "The only thing I'm worried about is that colossus down there. Standard protocol with armature-class units is to sabotage the shields and whittle it down. You know, kill it with bug bites. However, that thing's repair protocol blows that plan straight to hell. If you try to wear it down, it'll just huddle up and fix itself. Whatever you do, you'll have to scrap that bastard fast. And I mean _fast_. That probably means getting up close, but you'll end up in the meat grinder if you do it wrong."

For a minute Shepard put his hand to his chin in though, trying to tune out the sound of rounds piercing the air. Then, a few minutes later, a look of realization struck his face as he snapped his fingers.

"Emil. That Covenant Energy Sword of yours could cut through that thing's barrier and armor couldn't it?" Shepard asked as their hiding spot was peppered with rounds.

"And then some. Why? What're you thinking?" Emil asked, though his mind had already processed a similar plan.

"That I have an idea," Shepard answered. "Jack and Grunt will take the right. I'll take the left. When I give you the signal, you rush through the middle and let that thing have it," he ordered. "It's the fastest way to get everyone back to the ship for medical treatment. Those three injured marines won't be able to hold out forever."

Emil brought the weapon to his hand and flared it in a burst of light, shocking everyone except for Shepard who had already seen it. "I only need a ten to fifteen second window. Any more than that and it might be too easy," he said smiling behind his helmet. "Trust me when I say that the things shields will _not _be an issue."

"Okay, we all know our roles," Shepard said to everyone. "And Reegar. Keep your head down un_less _a drop shio shows up. Got it?"

The quarian nodded, readjusting his grip on his rocket launcher.

"On my mark," Shepard said as the four of them moved to the ramp leading to the level below, Emil giving one last 'you move and you die' gesture to Reegar as he attempted to give cover fire anyway. "Move!" he shouted as the convict and krogan shot off to the right, killing everything in their path with biotics and shotgun blasts as Shepard weaved between enemy fire, the Geth's attention instantly being drawn to both flanks, slowly leaving the center line dead open.

_Just a few more seconds… _Emil thought to himself in anticipation as he tightened his grip on his weapon, but not enough so that he activated it prematurely.

"Clear!" Shepard shouted over the radio as he suddenly dropped a grenade into a geth's lap, blowing it to bits.

With the signal carried, Emil leapt over the railing and onto the ground with a thud, a few cracks in the stone surface before he shot off toward the Geth Collossus. For a few seconds, the geth tried to change their targets to the red-armored soldier, but back-shots from the commander, convict, and krogan divided their attention again, shots merely grazing Emil's armor before he leapt up at the railing, vaulting himself over it and onto the Collossus' back.

"Let's see how you like a taste of superheated _plasma_!" Emil roared as he locked his magnetic boots into place on the thing's back, then drove the twin blades into its chassis, earning a wail of what was thought to be pain as everything in the blade's path was melted on contact in a split second.

As Emil continued to stab his blade in and out of the thing's chassis, its wails of pain filling the air as it desperately tried to shake Emil off. Meanwhile, the others continued firing on the geth until the thing was down once and for all.

With Shepard dropping bombs, and Grunt driving himself through enemy lines, Jack following right behind him and sending shockwaves in every direction before the geth could take fire on the Spartan.

* * *

A few minutes later, the Geth Collossus' wails of pain slowly began to die down, the light on its face fading until it went completely black, the thing's legs giving out from underneath it sending it to the ground with a low thud, the last of the geth falling to Grunt's shotgun.

"Man, that was… I haven't felt a rush like that since the Flood," Emil sighed as he rested his elbow on the beast's chassis.

"Well I'm glad to see you had fun and DAMN! What were you trying to do? Disable it or _dissect_ it?" Jack asked in shock as she looked at the deep gashes in the thing's back. The edges of the cuts were melted, and you could see straight into its delicate mechanics.

"Come on. Let's get Tali before any more geth show up," Shepard said, leading the others to the door. "Reegar! We'll pick you up on the way back!" he called over the hill, said marine waving his hand around the wall.

* * *

One hydraulic door later, and the group found themselves in another stone-laden room. On the left side of the room were several computer databases, while along the right was were a couple of generators and a downed rocket geth body, and a few geth troopers around. However at the other end of the room was what caught Emil's eye the most.

To say that the hologram didn't do her any justice, _wouldn't _do her any justice.

"Just let me finish this download," Tali said as she finished up on the console. A few minutes later the turned around and faced Shepard. "Thank you, Shepard. If not for you and your friends, I would have never made it out of this room. This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I'd joined you on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."

"What can you tell me about your research here?" Shepard asked.

"Haestrom's sun is destabilizing. Back when this was a quarian colony, it was a normal star. It shouldn't change that quickly," Tali explained as she pulled up a model of Haestrom's sun with her omni-tool.

"Any idea what's destabilizing the sun?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say that it was dark energy affecting the interior of the star. The effect is similar to blow off mass to enter a red giant phase, but Haestrom's sun is far too young for this to be natural."

"While we were able to save some quarians, there were still a lot of bodies on the way here. Was the data worth it?" Shepard asked, thankful that Reegar wasn't the _only _survivor on this mission.

"I don't know Shepard. It wasn't my call," Tali sighed shaking her head sadly. "The Admiralty Board believed the information was worth sacrificing all our lives for. I have to believe that they know what's best."

"I didn't ask what some Admiralty Board thought. I asked what _you _thought," Shepard said wanting to know if his friend thought this mission was worth it.

"While you were able to save three marines along with Reegar, a lot of people still died here, and some of them were my friends. They were all good at their jobs, and they had families back on the Flotilla. Thad damn data better be worth it. The price was too high," Tali vented.

"Whatever the reason, I'm glad I could help," said with a bit of a smile. "Once you deliver that data, I could use you on the Normandy."

"I promised to see this mission through. I did," she said as she began typing into her omni-tool. "I can leave with you and send the data to the fleet. And if the admirals have a problem with it they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die."

"Not all of them. We were able to save four of them," Emil said speaking up for the first time since entering the room. "And look. Your friend Reegar even came for a visit," he said motioning to the red-armored quarian as he limped into the room.

"Oh… Hello…" she said nervously as she looked up at him, unconsciously wringing her hands. "What's your name?"

"Um… Hi…" Emil responded rubbing the back of his head nervously. "My name's Emil."

"I'm Tali'Zorah vas Neemah," she responded.

"I-It's nice to meet you," Emil responded.

"Your captain sure has one hell of a squad," Reegar said as he stumbled forward, Emil offering his hand to help him out. "That damn colossus never stood a chance. Especially with the way that Gigantor here was gutting it a few minutes ago. Never seen anything like it," he said nudging Emil in the side.

With that, everyone turned to Emil, said Spartan rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, as he _did _do a lot of yelling and shouting as he was driving his blade into the thing's chassis.

"I uh… just got carried away I guess," he admitted.

"Oh?" Tali asked with her head tilted to the side slightly. "From what I heard, you must've been right outside the door. How'd you take down the Collossus from close range?"

"We can chat later," Jack interrupted. "Right now, we need to get off this rock before any more geth show up."

"Didn't the quarian say messages can't be transferred off world?" Grunt asked.

"While that may be true, we don't want to stay here longer than necessary," Shepard responded. "For all we know, another patrol may come by."

"Do you need a lift out of here?" Shepard asked. "If need be, the Normandy can get you and the others out of here, Reegar."

"Nah. The geth didn't damage the ship. Long as we get out of here before any reinforcements show up, we'll be fine," he replied.

"Actually, I won't be going with you," Tali corrected. "I'll be joining Commander Shepard and Emil from this point."

"Okay then. I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened," he returned. "She's all yours now, Shepard. Keep her safe," he said turning to the commander before turning to the hulking soldier on his left. "And you, just keep doing what you're doing, and I think we'll have nothing to worry about."

Emil nodded in recognition, him taking the rear as the others headed out the door.

* * *

A few seconds later on the other side of said door, Tali took one look at the geth colossus before staring at it in shock.

"Keelah, what in the world did you _use _on that thing?" Tali asked as she walked past the smoking wreckage of the Geth Collossus, taking note of the many puncture holes and slash marks in its back, small columns of smoke rising off the melted polymer, even now.

"I'd show you how, but my weapon's out of juice," Emil said shaking his sword handle, only to get a whole lot of nothing. "Maybe next time?"

"S-Sure," she replied as she and the others walked on.

The moment the group passed, the sound of servos whirring met their ears. When the group turned around, the smoldering colossus was weakly getting up, sparks rising from its chassis before it aimed one of its blasters right at them.

"Shit! That thing's still moving!" Jack cried before she and Grunt raised their shotguns to the rising mech as it charged its face laser.

However, before either of them could pull the triggers, Emil leapt at the metal monstrosity and grabbed its face. The next moment he yanked the beast from the ground with an overhead through, sending it sprawling into its back with a loud crash that echoed throughout the end of the valley.

Before the colossus could process what had just happened, Emil had leapt through the air before driving both of his feet down on its neck, the power to the cannon instantly being cut. Then, with an animalistic roar, he suddenly tore the thing's chassis open before ripping chunks of the beast out and scattering them across the field like some crazed animal, his battle-tuned instincts immediately taking over.

"Shepard… Just who _is _this guy?" Tali asked in shock, having just watched the red-armored soldier _literally _tear the geth colossus to pieces. Said pieces being scattered all across the area.

" . . . Once we get your squad back to their ship, Emil and I will explain as much as we can," Shepard sighed, knowing this was going to be an… interesting, discussion.

* * *

**When I watched the video of the mission, and it showed the column falling on those three quarian Marines, I totally thought, "That's the kind of thing Emil's presence could change." And by that, I mean the three gunned-down quarians getting flattened. I'm assuming that's what happened.**

**Anyway, Tali and Emil have finally met. Whether Tali's reaction is due to her seeing something in him she likes, or that he's just very tall is up to debate.**

**Emil, I'll leave that up to interpretation.**


	7. Backstories & the MJOLNIR's Fatal Flaw

When the group made their return trip, Emil had carried the three injured marines in his arms and over his shoulders. Shepard helped Reegar along, while the others took point to make sure there weren't any geth stragglers. Emil said that his HUD would've gone off if there were any quarian survivors, and so far the only thing that had set it off were geth.

After getting the quarians back to their ship, who then headed back to the Flotilla to receive proper medical treatment, the group made their way back to the drop point for the shuttle, Jack groaning when Emil used his massive bulk to shield Tali from the sun's rays while she and the others had to bear the heat the old-fashioned way.

Emil then told her that he did that to be a gentleman, and in case her shields were damaged. When she asked why he didn't offer to do it for her, he replied, "_Because it would feel too much like I was patronizing you . And you don't really want that do you?"_

With that, Jack had to agree with his response. She was never one for the damsel in distress crap, and it looked like Tali needed the help more anyway.

Meanwhile, Grunt grumbled to himself about "humans on steroids", and how he would've torn that colossus to shreds too if he was given the chance.

While no one was really doubting if Grunt could do that, they weren't exactly going to go out of their way to _find _one, just so the krogan could prove a point. Especially when just standing in the sunlight would fry your shields.

* * *

It was an hour after Tali had settled herself into engineering with the two Irish technicians, Donelly and Daniels, she found herself wondering just _who _the red-armored soldier was that she had seen tear the geth colossus into pieces like it were made of paper maché back on Haestrom.

After receiving messages from her surviving crew members on their experiences with Emil, she was a bit surprised to hear that he had not only thrown himself into geth fire to prevent three of the marines form meeting an untimely demise, but also running headlong into a geth platoon and assault the geth colossus directly, since while injured, all the injured quarians were on borrowed time unless they got proper medical treatment.

After making some calibrations to the Normandy's eezo core for peak efficiency, Tali went up to the bridge, heading past the galaxy map and the other navigators before heading up to Joker as he piloted the Normandy back to Cidatel space.

"Joker, do you have a minute?" she asked as she came into the cockpit.

"Huh? Tali? Weird. Usually it's Shepard who comes up here," Joker said as he turned in his seat. "Of course you don't hear _me _complaining."

"And it's nice to see you as well Joker," the engineer replied. "Listen, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Do you think you could tell me where Emil is. You know, the very tall soldier, head to toe in red armor, a golden visor?"

"The big guy? Oh, you'll find him in the cargo hold. Set himself up a nice little spot in the corner with some of the crates we aren't using," Joker answered.

"Thank you for the directions," Tali said with a short bow before leaving.

"Hey, if he isn't wearing his helmet, take a picture for me!" Joker called out as the quarian left the cockpit.

_Why would it be a big deal if he didn't have his helmet on? _Tali thought to herself as she headed for the elevator.

* * *

A few minutes later, Tali found herself wandering around the cargo hold, walking past a few of the large crates before she found herself at a humble bunker-like structure in the corner, just like Joker had said.

"Hello? Emil? Are you in there?" Tali asked as she looked around before entering the impromptu structure. When she did, all she saw was a few crates stacked in a row like a bed, the starboard side window looking out into the void of space. When she looked into the corner however, she was surprised to see a massive iron capsule with a glass case over it.

_Is this a cryogenic stasis chamber? _Tali asked as she looked it over. _It doesn't look like any model I've ever come across before. They certainly don't make them this big. And who is the UNSC? _she thought as she looked at the worn black lettering on the side, cross-referencing it on her omni-tool. After coming up with no results, she decided to see if Cerberus knew anything about it, hoping beyond hope that Emil wasn't the result of some kind of Cerberus experiment.

If he was, then she may actually have to acknowledge that they_ weren't _all bad, and that they could actually do some good. Something she didn't want to believe.

However, to her surprise there wasn't anything on the Cerberus databases either, and they had _everything_.

"Emil. Who are you?" Tali asked herself as she looked around.

"_If you are looking for Emil, he is not present at the moment," _EDI said as her avatar came up.

"Keelah! Don't scare me like that!" Tali cried as the AI had come out of nowhere.

"_I apologize if I frightened you," _EDI apologized. _"On a separate note, do you wish to find Emil?"_

"Yes… But how did you know that?" Tali asked.

"_Based upon your actions, both here and in the cockpit, it is obvious that you are looking to speak to the red-armored Spartan. Possibly about his origins."_

"Spartan? You mean like those warriors that fought the Persians on Earth centuries ago?"

"_I am afraid that if you want to know more, you will have to speak to him yourself. He is currently in the engineering block. It appears that he is looking for you. Shall I tell him you are here?"_

"N-No! I, I mean, I'll go to him," Tali answered, not wanting him to think she were a weird stalker or something. "Tell me if he goes anywhere else."

"_Very well."_

* * *

After another few minutes of Tali cursing that the blasted ship didn't have any stairs in it, Tali finally made it back up to the engineering block and came into the door. When she arrived, she came to the sight of the red-armores "Spartan", as EDI had described him, conversing with Daniels.

"Oh, well here she is," Daniels said as she waved Emil over to her. "The big guy here's been looking for you."

"You have?" Tali asked nervously, still not used to having to look _up_ to talk to someone. Or at least not anyone human.

"Guys, stop mentioning my height," Emil groaned slightly.

"Well can you blame us? You're like Gigantor but with a better paint job," Donnely stated.

"Ignoring that statement," Emil said ignoring the Irishman before turning to Tali. "How are you doing, Tali? Getting used to the ship?"

"I'm doing very well," Tali answered, trying not to wring her hands in front of the Irish perv. "Listen, I got a message from my squad mates from that last mission. They said some very… _interesting_ things about you."

"Um… Like what?" Emil asked nervously, having forgotten that he _did _go primal on a geth colossus the other day. Twice.

"Um, something about you lifting a five-ton pillar above your head, taking continuous enemy fire like it was nothing, and goring a geth colossus with some kind of energy sword," Tali answered, not completely believing what was in the messages. For all she knew the three marines were hallucinating from infection, and as for Reegar's case, it could've just been some new development in weapons' technology.

"Well I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't true," Emil admitted.

"Oh, well, thank you for saving them. I'm sure their families will appreciate this greatly," she replied with a slight bow.

"No need to thank me. I was just doing my duty," Emil answered.

"_Looks like King Kong has found his Ann Darrow," _Donnely snickered behind their backs, Daniels jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow before getting back to work.

"Do you think we could talk outside?" Tali asked, having heard that last statement.

"Sure," Emil said nodding his head slowly. "I'll just follow you."

Tali nodded in response before leading Emil into the hallway just outside engineering. After the door shut behind them, Tali turned back to the large soldier before her.

"So… What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked after a minute.

"Well… I was wondering if you wanted to sit down and talk a bit," Tali said straight out, knowing that if she beat around the bush for too long she'd probably make herself look foolish.

"Okay… What about?"

"Well… Since we're going to be working with each other in the field, maybe I could tell you about my past, and then you tell me about yours?" Tali asked.

"Okay," Emil answered.

As the two waited for the elevator to come down, he could only sigh. "Good grief, they invest all this money into a huge spaceship with cloaking technology, weapons, facilities, and shields, but they can't even put in a flight of _stairs_?"

"You thinks so too?" Tali asked, feeling relieved. "Keelah, I thought I was the _only_ one on this whole ship who thought that."

* * *

After taking the only elevator in the ship up two floors, taking as long as it always did, Emil and Tali found themselves sitting across from each other at the big table in the briefing room. At the moment Emil was now sitting in a specially-made, reinforced chair, since while in his armor he weighed almost 1000 pounds, and he bent the last chair he sat in considerably.

"So… Do you want to go first, or should I?" Tali asked.

"Mine might take longer," Emil answered. "Would you mind going first?"

"Okay…" Tali said as she gathered her thoughts. "Like you already know, my name is Tali'Zorah vas Neemah. However, what you may not know is that this wasn't always my name."

From that point, Tali spent the next half hour talking about her origins. From her humble beginnings aboard the Rayya of the Migrant Fleet in the year 2161, to her Pilgrimage which soon led to her joining Shepard in the fight against Saren, the final rush through the Mass Relay and into the citadel, to the final push to the top of parliament tower. After answering the soldier's questions to the best of her abilities, she began telling him about the more recent events like Shepard's death aboard the SSV Normandy, to his eventual return when they met up on the settlement Freedom's Progress, and then to the events on Haestrom up until Shepard and his squad had come into to rescue her.

When Emil asked how Shepard could've _died_, then come back to life after getting "spaced" and going through atmospheric re-entry with only a standard hardsuit, she told him that he would have to ask Shepard himself, since it wasn't her place to talk about that and because she didn't know all the details.

Once Tali had finished, Emil took a few breaths as he had finally figured out how to tell her _his_ life's story.

"Tali, before I begin, I need you to promise not to freak out, and to let me finish talking. Okay?" Emil asked.

"Sure, but why would you have to ask me that?" Tali asked, wondering what it was that Emil was trying to get across.

Emil visibly sighed before he looked toward the console, Tali's gaze following his as she wondered where this conversation was heading.

"Wynonna. Come on out. We need to get this out of the way," Emil said toward the console.

For a moment, Tali was wondering who Emil was talking to, since to her knowledge the only… person that could come out of a console would be EDI.

The next moment, an orange-tinted figure, shaped like a human female bearing resemblance to most VI, materialized from the console before surprisingly, leaping from the panel and onto the table.

"_Hello. I am the UNSC Artificial Intelligence construct, WYN 0168-7, Smart AI partnered with Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan Emil-356. You may call me Wynonna," _the construct greeted.

"What are you doing with an AI?" Tali cried. "Don't you know how dangerous those things are?"

"Tali, listen to me, I'll explain all of this in a minute," Emil said trying to be as calming as he could, which was admittedly difficult when you were at least twice the size of the person you were trying to calm down, and were covered head to toe in thick plated armor. "For now, I just need you to sit back, relax, and let me explain everything. My past is connected to hers as much as hers is mine."

"_Hers_?" Tali asked as she looked down at the AI. Truthfully, she did seem very human, down to the way she was trying to calm her down as well. VI usually just stood by their console and did nothing, only speaking when spoken to, while EDI was just globe-shaped.

"_Please hear us out. Emil has been through… _trying _, circumstances, and I'm not the same as other AI," _the orange-tinted figure pleaded.

" . . . Okay… I'll listen," Tali decided after a minute, crossing her arms and making herself more comfortable in her seat.

For the next _hour_ or so, Emil told Tali his life's story. From being inducted into the SPARTAN II program as a kid, the training regimen and the augmentation procedures performed on his body, his adventures fighting the Covenant, and what he had been doing up to before Shepard pulled him out of cryo. In summary, he told her what he'd told Shepard, and the pieces of his past that he told Jack. When Tali had a question, either about the SPARTAN II program, the UNSC, the Covenant, or the Flood, Wynonna would answer it to the best of her abilities, or ask her to save that until later.

Finally, after all of it was said and done, Tali was stunned speechless. While such a story was in the elements of science fiction, even by _their _standards, there wasn't any reason to think that he was lying. Plus his armor and AI were like nothing she'd ever seen before, and after remembering the stasis pod she'd come across in the cargo hold, the only conclusion that she could come to was that he was telling the truth. Especially with the visual aids that Wynonna was providing, all of which seemed too strange to be anything _but _the truth.

However, before the exchange could continue, the blue-tinted AI came up in the monitor, drawing their attention.

"_Emil. It appears that Commander Shepard wishes to see you in the CIC. Are you currently available at the moment?"_

"Um…" Emil said as he looked to Tali, then to the AI's avatar coming out of the console. "Yes. I am available."

"_Very well. I shall notify Shepard that you are on your way," _EDI said before disappearing.

" . . . Well. Duty calls," Emil said as he looked back to Tali. "I'll see you later when I find the time."

"Okay then, I'll… see you later," Tali replied as the Spartan got up from his seat and left the room.

* * *

"You needed to see me for something Commander Shepard?" Emil asked as he came into the CIC.

"Yes. I was wondering if there were any problems with your armor," Shepard said as he looked over the galaxy map as he decided upon his next destination. "I notice that you took no small amount of direct fire during the last mission, and I just wanted to be sure that everything was running smoothly."

"Hmmm… Wynonna, run diagnostics on all armor components and sub-components," Emil said as he placed his hand on the console.

"_Roger that. Now processing armor specs," _Wynonna said as she appeared on the console, a hologram of the armor with several green tracers going over it before it suddenly turned red, homing in onto the back plate of the MJOLNIR armor. _"Houston, we have a problem."_

"By the location of the damage, I'm assuming it has to do with the suit's shielding?"

"_That is correct. It seems that your armor's Linear Accelerator had sustained damage during your stint on Haestrom," _Wynonna explained.

"Could it have been from the solar radiation?" Shepard asked. "Since the shielding technology is different than ours, maybe some of the components were affected differently."

"_I'm afraid I don't have enough data to determine that. In order to determine the extent of the damage, I'd need to know whether or not it was from the radiation or enemy fire."_

"I see. Let's run the previous mission through the HUL and try to track when the damage took place," Emil stated.

"HUL? Is this different than your Heads Up Display?" Shepard asked.

"_That would be correct," _Wynonna answered. _"The HUL, or External Hardened Uplink, is designed for recording visual and audio information. In a nutshell, when we go over the data, we'll see and hear everything that Emil saw and heard through his visor."_

"_I would advise that you move your meeting to the briefing room," _EDI advised. _"While it's possible to show the data here, it would not be beneficial for the crew here, seeing as how most of them do not have battlefield experience, and it may distract them from performing their duties."_

"Of course," Shepard said as he and Emil got up, heading back for the briefing room.

* * *

"Okay… now connecting armor to briefing room's systems," Emil said as he placed his hand onto the console. "Data being transferred, being converted into suitable format… Done. "

After the data transfer was made, Shepard and Emil sat down across from each other as the holographic screen came up. Thankfully, Tali had left the engineering room, otherwise she may've ended up seeing the dead bodies of her squad again.

After a minute of the data being processed, a holographic screen formed on the far side of the room, a timer showing up in the lower left corner of the screen.

At the beginning, the screen was black, then it gained color as the squad stepped out of the shuttle. The screen then panned down, following an orange-shelled beetle as it crawled out into the sun, bursting into flames moments later.

After the group ran down the hill, it showed Emil breaking off to the right as the others went left, Shepard recognizing this as when the second dropship came in. It then showed four disruptor rounds bringing down two geth trooper shields before a crate suddenly flew at the one on the left, Emil suddenly rushing forward and tackling the second shoulder-first before ripping it in two with his bare hands.

Seeing that caused Shepard to pale a bit, having heard the groaning of steel as the thing's chassis was torn apart, as well as seeing the internal fluids flying about.

* * *

A few minutes later into the video feed, it came to the point where Shepard came across the radio on the ground. The screen then panned up to the geth dropship that came in, firing three rounds at the pinned marines. While they were able to escape the blast, the attack had weakened the pillar to the left considerably.

The next moment it began to fall, and surely would've crushed them had what happened next not happened.

"_No!" _Emil shouted as he ran forward at Olympic speeds, the screen shuddering as the pillar came down onto his shoulders.

At the moment the pillar was caught, the screen showed the three quarians looking up in a mixture of shock and awe. However, seconds later, the screen began shaking wildly, the sound of enemy fire filling the air.

"_There!" _Wynonna said as the video paused right at that point where the screen started shaking. _"That's when the Linear Accelerator was damaged. After reviewing the footage, I've been able to in fact determine that it was enemy fire that damaged the armor component, rather than the sun's radiation."_

"Okay. We know how the damage was caused," Shepard mused as the video feed shut down. "Emil. Do you think we could get that armor component repaired?"

"Well… I'm not sure if it's actually better in its current state," Emil mused. "Obviously, there are differences between the two shielding technologies we use, as well as what it's designed to protect the user from. The Titanium Alloy Outer Shell is nearly impervious to small arms weapons, but while glancing rounds from armor piercing rounds won't compromise it's structure, direct hits can still breach the armor. Underneath the armor is the Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit, which while being very strong and flexible helps protect from ballistics attacks, is also coated in a heat resistant material to dispense heat from plasma weapons."

"_However, the primary form of ammunition used in this universe is mass accelerated to tremendous speeds, and is also energy-based instead of plasma-based," _Wynonna explained. _"In short, the majority of the MJOLNIR's shielding technology doesn't offer the same amount of protection here as it did back home."_

"So instead of repairing your armor components to upkeeping your own technology, it would actually be better to replace it with shielding tech from _our _galaxy?" Shepard finished.

"Exactly," Emil answered as he crossed his arms. "The Linear Accelerator was designed with the intention of doubling the shielding power of a protection system that was designed to protect from heat and plasma based weapons, instead of energy-based like there are here. Since plasma-based weaponry doesn't exist yet, it would be better to use a more mainstream-protection system."

"_The MJOLNIR armor was designed to be able to easily and effectively incorporate different technology to give it versatility," _Wynonna continued. _"It was easy enough to incorporate the omni-tool into the armor, going as far as to being able to link it to the neural interface. Installing a more field-appropriate shield generator will be easy, however you won't be as protected as you were before."_

"It isn't necessarily that bad a thing that I'm not as protected _here _than I was back home," Emil stated as he got up from his seat. "Before, I had to worry about heat and plasma-based weapons. However, here the only thing I really have to worry about is matter accelerated to extreme speeds. While the shield generator is replaced, the Hydrostatic Gel should help absorb a fair amount of hits until the shields recharge themselves, if my understanding of this universe's shielding technology is correct."

"Do you think you could explain what the Hydrostatic Gel is?" Shepard asked.

"Wynonna, please explain what the function of the Hydrostatic Gel in this armor is for. I'm going to visit Dr. Mordin and see about having this armor's shielding technology replaced," Emil said as he left the room.

"_Sure thing Emil," _Wyononna said as her partner left the room, then turned to the commander. _"Okay Shepard, the MJOLNIR armor is comprised of four layers, three of them being protective measures. On the outside is the Titanium Alloy Outer Shell, or the red plates covering the chest, arms, hips, legs, calves, feet, and hands. Beneath that is the Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit, which is the flexible black layer under the armor plates. The last line of defense is the Hydrostatic Gel, which is located directly underneath the armored bodysuit. This gel-filled layer regulates the temperature of the suit, and allows it to conform to the wearer's shape, the internal temperature being controlled by the moisture absorbing cloth suit beneath the hydrostatic layer. This bottom layer can also be pressurized to various levels at specific points for the explicit purpose of dampening high G forces from a fall, or a high-velocity impact from an explosion, or a rocket."_

"What's the fourth layer of the MJOLNIR armor?" Shepard asked.

"_Well, that isn't really for protection, but to help the wearer use the armor and it's features effectively," _Wynonna explained. _"You already know how with Emil's Neural Interface, that I'm in a sense "hardwired" into his nervous system, as well as his armor," _she said making air quotes on the word _hardwired _with her fingers for emphasis, Shepard nodding agreement moments later. _"This layer is called the Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal Layer, and it is sandwiched between the external armor and internal padding. At the same time it is split into two sections that form the suit's inner structure; The first layer contains the Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal. This reactive metal increases strength, reaction time, mobility, speed, and all around physical performance of the wearer. The second layer supports the suit's artificial intelligence, i.e. me, knitted together at a molecular level and fitted inbetween the outer plates and inner padding. This same type of computer memory is usually outfitted on warships, meaning that this single layer accounts for over eighty percent of the MJOLNIR's armor cost for construction and materials."_

"So you're saying that Emil's armor is running on the same hardware used on _warships_?" Shepard asked in surprise.

"_Yes. However, with all of these features, the _only _people who could use this kind of technology would be a fully-augmented Spartan," _Wynonna explained. _"Even at their best, naturally-grown humans would never be able to handle the strain put on them by the MJOLNIR armor."_

"But why the need for so many upgrades?"

"_Back home, humanity had to face vastly superior numbers, and the technology difference between us didn't help either," _Wynonna explained. _"The main reason the Spartans were created was because _once_ completed, they'd be able to handle entire platoons of enemies by themselves, taking the pressure off of the non-augmented units. Thus giving them a fighting chance. You could sort of say that Spartans were Humanity's ace in the hole. In a way, the closest thing we had to the "Magic Bullet" that would've ended the war."_

"Ah, I see. We usually don't fight full-scale wars anymore since humanity was introduced to the galaxy at large, but settle for fighting one squad against another. Plus, our numbers are usually equal, so I can see how so much equipment would be needed to help compensate," Shepard said rubbing his chin. "But why would one soldier need a single AI? Usually VI are reserved for businesses or companies, and EDI can handle nearly everything on the ship, so for a single person to need an AI of their own is something I'm trying to wrap my head around."

"_The reason that AI were created was to relay field information to the Spartans behind the visor in the fastest and most direct way possible. On their own, humans can only process so _much _information, and can't it quickly enough for combat application against the numbers that Spartans faced. However, if an artificial intelligence is hardwired into the Spartan themselves, the exchange of information is nearly instantaneous because the two share the same mind. I suppose a good example would be how the Geth communicate with one another. Since they're hooked up to a form of a hive mind, and they don't have to use words to exchange info, but instead thought, that's how they can fight so cohesively."_

"So then it's like you and Emil share the same body?"

"_Yes, however there are protocols that prevent me from using the armor's equipment without Emil's consent. Unless he let me into his suits systems, the most I could really do was see what he saw, hear what he heard, feel what he felt, and speak to him in the back of his head or over the radio."_

As Shepard processed all of this information, a nagging question came to mind after he heard of Emil's neural interface. "I sort of understand the neural interface that allows you to link yourself into Emil's nervous system. But what _would _happen if Emil let you into his armor's systems."

"_Should that happen, I would be able to use the servos and force-multiplier circuits to essentially move Emil's body like a puppet," _Wynonna explained. _"To a point, I suppose it would be like it was my body as much as it was his."_

"Hearing that makes me think of the brain implant that Cerberus could've used to control my every action," Shepard said with crossed arms, getting a little bit wary of the second AI.

"_Shepard, while I may be an AI, I was based on the brainwaves of an actual human," _Wynonna argued. _"In essence, I'm just as human as everyone else. The only difference is that I…" _she mused as she rubbed her chin. _"I guess the best way to put it would be that I am free of the yoke of my human flesh. Because I'm not composed of simply 1s and 0s, I'm essentially the very thing that makes humans, _human. _Their intelligence."_

"So then you won't betray him if he lets you into his systems?" Shepard asked.

"_Of course not!" _she growled, feeling a bit insulted by that question. _"Emil isn't just my partner! He's my friend too! Things like that are exactly _why _AI were made using human brainwaves instead of complicated formulas and data. It's so we won't betray our partners just because it's convenient like a computer program would."_

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Shepard apologized as the orange-tinted AI turned red for a few seconds before resuming her original color. The last thing he needed was to make one AI angry, because he may end up with _two _AI angry at him.

After taking a few breaths, or at least performing that action visually, Wynonna sighed. _"Okay. Apology accepted."_

"I'm glad we could work this out," Shepard sighed, feeling a bit guilty after questioning Wynonna's loyalty like that. Especially after making such a strong argument. "On a separate note, aren't you worried about Emil as of now? If what you've said is true, then he won't be as protected as he was before with a different shielding type, and if what you've said about armor piercing rounds and the armor plating on his suit was true, then wouldn't Emil be in more danger."

"_Shepard, Shepard, Shepard," _Wynonna said waving her hand at him. _"Spartans weren't the soldiers they were _just_ because of their equipment. Heck, _anyone _could be a threat if you put the right kind of gun in their hands. The real reason the Spartans were so effective was because they were so skilled. Even if he didn't have his MJOLNIR armor, and was using the same stuff as everyone else, he'd still be able to handle himself due to his skill. Or at least in this universe. Back home, he'd _need _that edge."_

"_I suppose a good analogy for the message that Wynonna is trying to convey is based on this old saying," _EDI said as she came up on the consold. _"It isn't the weapon that makes the soldier, but the soldier holding the weapon that makes it count."_

"_Thank you very much EDI. I couldn't have said it any better myself," _Wynonna said in appreciation.

"_Then why _didn't _you?" _EDI asked in a smug tone, Shepard realizing that EDI was becoming just as human as Wynonna.

"_I was trying to make this talk a memorable one," _Wynonna argued with a pout.

"Okay then, that's good to hear," Shepard sighed as he got up from his seat, deciding to head up to his private quarters. "For a minute I thought the Emil were as strong as he was because of his equipment. I guess I sort of overlooked Emil himself."

"_That's true. Even _without_ the MJOLNIR armor, he can be as much of a threat as any other soldier due to his augmentations," _Wynonna responded. _"Of course, the force-multipliers in his suit are still a big help."_

"Do you think I could get the specs on some of the technology in his suit?" Shepard asked. "Even if we couldn't necessarily use _all _of his suits components with our own armor, the Heads Up Display would be a massive boon for our mission. Especially against the Collectors."

"_You'd have to ask him yourself," _Wynonna answered. _"Of course, getting such an important armor component replaced will take time, so maybe after your next mission would be the best time. I'm sure he'd lend you the specs for the HUD. Maybe more."_

"That's good to hear. I'll take all the help I can get," Shepard said as he left the room.

* * *

**A few of the readers have been bringing up in Reviews how I'm making Emil a little too powerful in this story since the previous chapter, and to tell the truth, I appreciate the comments on that very much, because now I can make this story more realistic. ****Or at least as realistic as a fictional story about a fictional sci-fi universe can be.**

**The main reason I had Emil's shielding system replaced is exactly as it was explained in the chapter. Because the Halo and Mass Effect universes have to protect their users from different types of enemy fire, it would only be logical that shielding technology from Halo wouldn't be able to protect a Spartan from **_**everything **_**in the Mass Effect universe. Even though he won't be as invincible, with his skills and augmentations, he and Shepard are both right up there, since admittedly, I think that Shepard is the Mass Effect universe's equivalent to the Halo universe's Spartan.**

**I tried to make the technical explanations as easy to understand as I could, but if it didn't work, then hopefully this Layman's explanation will suffice.**

"**Halo Universe shielding **_**can **_**protect the user from weapons from the Mass Effect Universe, however, the prior isn't necessarily **_**designed **_**for it, making the ME shielding system better for the job by comparison."**

**If even **_**this**_** explanation didn't help, then I'm sorry.**

**P.S.  
Sorry for summarizing the chat the Tali and Emil had between each other, but if you're reading Mass Effect FanFiction, then you should already know Tali's backstory. As for Emil, you should **_**definitely **_**know his backstory unless you simply skipped that chapter.**

**Plus it would be too much to type, and if there's one thing I dislike the most in FanFiction, it's characters telling the same stories over and over again when a summary would suffice just as much.**


	8. Dossier: The Master Thief

It had been a couple of days since the revelation of the MJOLNIR's Achilee's Heel was revealed. While the loss of Emil's shielding capabilities was a terrible loss, or at the very least to him, the eventual replacement of a more "mainstream" shield generator would keep him in the game, even if he wasn't as protected as he was before.

When Shepard asked about why he was so cool about it, his reply was,

"_Well, seeing as how I'm not in the same warzone I was before, my new level of protection would be more appropriate even though mechanically it was inferior to my previous design. That being said, my only concern is when I go up against the Collectors, and by proxy, the Reapers. I've been reading up on Cerberus' files, and I can't help but think this is like the Covenant Wars all over again, the only difference being that we have no idea where they even are, or what they really look like. At least before we could put a face to our enemy's names, but now..."_

As Shepard had steered the Normandy back toward the Citadel on a tip from TIM, he couldn't help but think how different things would've been if he'd actually gotten some form of credible proof of the Reaper's existence back on Virmire the first time around. If he had, then maybe he wouldn't be on his own, sans Cerberus. Of course, since Virmire was nothing but a nuclear-borne crater, there was no going back and trying to salvage proof, especially since two years had already passed since them.

Hopefully once Emil had gotten the MJOLNIR's shielding technology replaced, he would be able to get the HUL replicated, hopefully to the extent where he may actually be able to get proof the next time said evidence presented itself before him.

Either that, or he just take Emil with him whenever they were near a Collector ship, since people didn't seem to believe in them either, thinking of them as nothing more than a fairy tale.

A few days later Jacob had made a large stride in converting Emil's MA5B Assault Rifle to being able to use heat sinks. The real challenge came with replacing the internal mechanics with the mass accelerator used in most weapons, but once the conversions were finished, Emil would be rushing into battle like he had "in the days of yore".

Jacob himself could understand Emil's attachment to his weapon. He himself had a b-b gun he got as a kid that he kept with him, even through his high school days, mostly because of the sentimental value.

The Spartan Laser and the Covenant Energy Sword were still a while away in being "adapted", but once they were, the weapons could potentially be replicated, and hopefully be brought down onto the Collectors when the time came. Hopefully, the two technologies would be of some use when it came time to fight the Reapers as well.

* * *

After conversing with Neal about the state of him and his MJOLNIR armor, when he went up to his private quarters he had received a message from TIM about a potential ally for their mission.

Her name was Kasumi Goto, allegedly. She was a master of stealth, eluding her enemies, and technical expertise. All of which would make her a valuable asset to the success of their mission to save humanity. It appeared that in exchange for joining Shepard's ranks, that she needed help with a heist. From him specifically.

However, no details were given as to the objective of said heist. All TIM was able to give him was the general location of the meeting point, and a password.

"EDI. What is the ETA for until we arrive at the Citadel?" Shepard asked as he made the final adjustments to his armor before setting off.

"_ETA noted at around twenty eight minutes," _the AI responded. _"Oh, it appears you have a call. Shall I patch it through?"_

"Um, sure, I guess," Shepard replied.

A moment later, the blue-tinted avatar was replaced with the orange-tinted AI Wynonna.

"_Heyya Shep. You setting off?" _she asked, coming off much warmer than EDI's placid nature. If you could call it that.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" he asked, still trying to get used to such a… _human _AI on the ship.

"_Well, I was wondering if you could take Emil with you to meet this Kasumi person, or even just out of the ship," _Wynonna answered. _"All he's done for the past few days was run training vids, practice on the shooting range, eat, drink, and sleep. Even though there aren't any adverse effects, Dr. Chakwas as well as myself would feel better if he got into a peaceful environment before going back into another combat zone."_

"Of course. Taking some time off will do him some good," Shepard replied as he made his final adjustments. "He's been through a lot recently, and I need everyone at their best."

"_Thanks. I appreciate this," _Wynonna said with a bow before leaving.

* * *

A half hour later, the half of the Normandy's crew that was on rotation for leave disembarked from the Normandy. After going through the depressurizing chamber, the two walked out into the massive city-like space station, the red-armored Spartan looking around in sheer awe at the size and complexity of this space station. He'd been reading up on it, but words and pictures didn't do it justice.

"Good grief, I thought this place was big when I saw it out the window, but now that I'm actually here, I still can't believe this place is so big," Emil said as he looked around.

"Yeah, I go that reaction too the first time I disembarked here," Shepard said, taking some amusement in his comrade's reaction. "Follow me. After we meet up with our contact, I'll show you around before disembarking. Being thrown into a setting like the Citadel after being on the battlefield for so long can be a little overwhelming."

"I guess can agree with you on that," Emil said as he looked around, ignoring the people staring at him as he walked by. "After doing nothing but fighting my whole life, save a few times on leave, hopefully I can actually _enjoy _a peaceful setting like this. At least in comparison."

"That's good to hear. No one should spend their whole life on the battlefield. Everyone deserves a break once in a while," Shepard admonished as the two came up to a column-shaped advertisement.

"Commander Shepard. Enter the password and receive a free gift," the advertisement stated. On it was the image of an asian woman wearing a black hood, her features hidden beneath the cowl aside from the purple lipstick on her lips.

"Silence is golden," Shepard answered.

"Good to finally meet you, Commander Shepard. Kasumi Goto. I'm a fan."

"Has Cerberus filled you in on the mission?" he asked.

"Honestly, I'm shocked they didn't come to see me sooner. My fault for being hard to find I guess. "

"What's with the password and the sneaking around? Are you in trouble or something?"

"I'm the _best _in the business, not the most famous. Need to watch my step and keep it that way," Kasumi answered. "I also needed to make sure all this was legit. And I have no doubts now- You're the real Commander Shepard."

"What makes you so sure?"

"There's a certain… aura about you. Like you've seen things no one else has. Even without knowing what you looked like, I knew it was you."

"What brought you to Cerberus?"

"That's a bit of a story. Short version, they were looking for me, so I trailed them to find out why. Turns out they were looking for someone to join you on an important mission… and were offering a serious signing bonus."

_Speaking of which, I need to see about getting a paycheck myself, _Emil mused as he listened to this conversation. _Not that I have anything better to do, but a little pay for after the figh would be good. Provided I survive that is._

"I had a thing I needed help with, so I made them a deal. And here we are."

"I assume this deal is something I should know about."

"Yeah. I guess it slipped their minds," Kasumi replied. "I'm looking for my old partner's graybox. A man named Donovan Hock took it, and I'm planning to get it back."

"What's the heist?"

"Not here, Shepard. You'll get a briefing when the time comes. I need time to nail down the details anyway. I've taken the liberty of getting you some evening wear, though. You'll want to be presentable."

"What do you know about Donovan Hock?"

"Mr. Hock is a well-respected "businessman". Arms dealer, murderer, generally not a great guy," Kasumi said describing him. "His mansion's famous for being hard to crack. But I have a way in, and I think you're going to love it."

"I doubt Hock's the kind of guy who takes kindly to people sneaking into his house."

"I always expect trouble. That's why you're here."

"I assume a graybox is some kind of hardware."

"It's a neural implant. Illegal in most places," Kasumi answered as a light blue-tinted interface showed up over her eyes, the very _mentioning _of it catching Emil's ear. "Stores memories, thoughts… secret codes, illicit information. This one in particular belonged to my partner, Keiji Okuda. We worked together for a long time, before Hock killed him."

"Tell me about this former partner of yours," Shepard said, while Emil was wondering just how long he was going to have to stand there and watch his commanding officer talk to an "advertisement".

"Like I said before, his name was Keiji Okuda, the best hacker and entry man I've ever known. Unfortunately, he slipped up and made himself infamous. He stole something he shouldn't have. He warned me it was bad, something that could spark interstellar war if it got out. That information… got him killed," Kasumi finished, while up above she stepped forward to the point where she could see Shepard.

Almost immediately, Emil's motion tracker got a lock on her, however he didn't look up, otherwise he might give her away, or give himself away to the fact that _he _found _her_.

"What could he have found that's so bad?"

"He wouldn't say what it was, just that it was dangerous. He said if it got out, humanity would be in trouble," Kasumi explained.

_And then we'd end up back at square one, _Emil sighed to himself bitterly. After reading up on this universe's version of Earth, he learned that it had soon grown into a den of racists, and he was disappointed greatly.

It was bad enough that for centuries humans couldn't stand each _other_, but when they got out into space and saw that they weren't the only ones around, not only did they _continue_ lashing out at each other, but at everything else _too_.

In his opinion, it wasn't that great an idea to make every other species out there angry at you. Especially when they outnumbered you, and had bigger guns. Or, in the krogan specie's case, rip you in half like a phonebook. Vertically.

"He encrypted it, wrapped it up in his own memories. To decode the information, you have to sift through all the time we spent together. Now those memories are all that's left of him."

"I can understand why you'd want to get it back," Shepard replied.

"Getting it back will be easier with your help, Shepard," Kasumi replied.

"If that's what Cerberus promised you, we'll get it done," Shepard finished.

"It'll be fun. And if you're lucky, you won't even have to draw your gun," she said as the advertisement shut down. "We should probably wrap this up. Gigantor over there was the only thing keeping you from looking silly standing there talking to an advertisement," she said as she spoke up a bit from the rafter up above, drawing Shepard's attention.

_Great, first the Irish, and now the Japanese. Who _else _will call me Gigantor? _Emil growled inside his helmet. Thankfully it was there, otherwise if anyone saw the look on his face, they would've thought he was about to kill someone.

"See you on the ship, Shepard," she finished as she walked off, disappearing in a white haze of sparks.

"I just lost her on my HUD," Emil said as he tapped the side of his helmet. "This lady must be the real deal. Only the top of the top-grade tech can escape a Spartan motion tracker."

"And that's exactly what we need for this mission," Shepard said as he headed back to the Normandy before leading him to the checkpoint. "Come on. I'll show you around and get you a security pass before we disembark."

"Security clearance _would _ be nice for once," Emil answered as he followed his commander.

"Hmmmmm. Clearance…" Shepard mused as he rubbed his hand on his chin. "Follow me Emil. We've got just enough time to take care of something that'll help us down the road before we disembark."

* * *

A couple hours later after Commander Shepard and Emil had visited his old friend, Councilman David Anderson, to discuss future business concerning the red-armored soldier, the two walked around the Citadel for a bit before the Normandy crew was off once again.

As the Normandy made its way to the planet Bekenstein, second planet in the Boltazmann System in the Serpent Nebula, Kasumi and Shepard sat across from one another in the briefing room to discuss the details of the heist before they reached their destination.

At the moment Shepard was already in his formal wear. A suave equivalent to a black and white tuxedo, provided suave is the word I'm looking for.

"You clean up well Mr. Solomon Gunn. Hock won't know what hit him," Kasumi complimented.

"I assume Solomon Gunn is my cover."

"You run a small but talented band of mercenaries out in the Terminus System. Precisely the type of person Hock respects," Kasumi replied as she brought several holographic documents out into display. "I took the liberty of giving you a reputation. Papers, witnesses, article in Badass Weekly. Just don't start talking business with him and you'll be fine."

"Remind me. What kind of man are we dealing with?"

"Hock's a weapons dealer and smuggler. He killed my partner and stole his graybox. Other than that he's not so bad. Rich, charismatic, willing to crack open a man's skull to get at the neural implant inside," she finished bitterly.

"I take it I'm wearing this getup for a reason," Shepard said motioning to his outfit. "Not that I'm really complaining or anything, but I don't think this will protect me too much if this turns into a gunfight."

"You'd look really out of place at a society party in armor, don't you think?" she asked. "You look great. You should wear the stuff more often."

"Now's probably a good time to fill me in on the details."

"You _have _been waiting patiently," Kasumi admitted as she pulled up more documents, this time with pictures included. "Our friend Hock is throwing a party for his closest friends. A couple dozen of the worst liars, cheaters, and mass murderers you'll ever want to meet, all bringing gifts as a tribute to the man himself."

She then swapped out the picture of the mansion's interior for another, this time of a golden statue that caused Shepard's brow to furrow.

"Our tribute is a lovely statue of your old friend Saren, rendered with loving detail and filled to the brim with our weapons and armor," she said as the picture turned transparent at the bottom, showing a case specially designed for smuggling in weapons in the pedestal. "You can keep your pistol as long as it's concealed. They won't hassle you over a sidearm. Once inside, we'll make our way to Hock's vault door somewhere in the back of the ballroom. Then, we case the security and start peeling away the layers. The statue should be there, waiting for you to crack it open and arm up. Then we just walk into the vault and take Keiji's graybox… And I'll finally get a chance to say goodbye," she finished.

"You worked really hard on this. Keiji must've meant a lot to you."

"Was I that obvious? Keiji's graybox holds a lot of priceless, personal memories. It's all that remains of who he was. But the secret he discovered, _is _dangerous. I wouldn't bring you if it wasn't."

"What's in the graybox that makes it worth all this trouble?" Shepard asked, hoping for a little more information to go by.

"The graybox holds Keiji's memories. Everything from all the codes and plans he stole to… all the time we spent together," Kasumi sighed. "Wrapped up in those memories is the secret he stole. Keiji never told me what it was, but the information got him killed."

"Well then, this should certainly be interesting," Shepard said as he got up and stretched his back.

"That's what I'm going for," Kasumi said as she got up too, only for her omni-tool to beep a few times, drawing her attention. After opening the message, she turned back to Shepard. "Well… There seems to be one _final _detail," she said after looking over the message. "I've received word that Donovan has put a _theme _to his party, like aristocrats did in the days of old."

"Mind telling me the theme?" Shepard asked lacing his fingers together and resting his elbows on the table.

"The theme of the party is, _The Fruits of our Labor_," Kasumi answered. "Basically, not only will everyone be bringing gifts for the man himself, but also proof of the success of their enterprises."

"So basically it's a pissing contest?" Shepard asked curtly. _**Renegade Action.**_

"That's pretty much it exactly," Kasumi answered honestly, knowing how petty aristocrats could be sometimes. "In order to sell this, you're going to need something _huge_. Something that no one in the mercenary business has ever seen before, and I mean something so off the grid that they won't even be able to _think _about questioning you."

"Well we're already en route. We'll have to make due with what we have," Shepard said as he rubbed his chin in thought. As he tried to figure out what to do for Donovan's _Fruits of our Labor _party, the hydraulic doors suddenly opened.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I left my gun in here from earlier," Emil said as he came into the room, both sets of eyes turning to him as he walked into the room, taking his MG6 Pistol before setting it onto the magnetic clamps on his thigh, only to notice the two staring at him. "What?"

"Kasumi. I think we just found our fruit," Shepard replied as he looked up at the red-armored Spartan, then blanched at the cheesy joke he just made.

"Excuse me?" Emil asked warily, an eyebrow raising behind his visor.

* * *

A few hours later after being briefed on the mission Emil's weapons being loaded into the statue's hidden compartment, the group of three, four if you include Wynonna, were flying through the skies in the equivalence to a sports car toward Donovan Hock's mansion.

"So let me get this straight. You need me to act like a living tank in front of a bunch of rich aristocrats who are trying to one-up one another?" Emil asked from the back seat.

"Yes," Kasumi answered.

"And there are other mercenary leaders at this party?"

"Naturally."

"And I have to help sell Shepard's cover?"

"But of course," Kasumi replied. "After all, you _are _a big strong man. I'm sure you'll fill this role perfectly."

"_Were you coming on to him just then?" _Wynonna asked with a twinge of red on her cheeks as she appeared from the car's console.

"Ah! What the hell?" Kasumi cried momentarily losing control of the craft, Shepard regaining control so they wouldn't look suspicious if anyone saw them jerking around like that.

"Sorry, haven't introduced you yet. Wynonna, this is Kasumi, a thief who's joined us on our little adventure to _save_ _the universe_. Kasumi, this is Wynonna, my personal AI responsible for my suit's equipment, as well as bolstering my nervous system's reaction time to various stimuli," Emil stated.

" . . . Say again?" Kasumi asked with her head tilted to the side.

At this Sheard could only shake his head and laugh a bit. "Somehow, I think things will be a bit more… entertaining, this time around."

* * *

After a somewhat brief shuttle ride through the skies of Beckenstein, their ship let out a low whining/wailing sound as it descended to the ground, the extra thousand pound weight straining the eezo drive that kept it afloat as it came down. When the group got out, Emil last, they found themselves in front of a massive white-walled mansion with large windows.

"This is our stop," Kasumi said as Shepard closed the door behind Emil.

As Emil looked around, he noticed that there were a couple of guards that he recognized from the Eclipse mercenary group. At the moment they were offloading the golden Statue of Saren Arterius, a figure who he didn't know much about. The only things he did know was that he lead the geth against the Citadel, while Sovereign was controlling him, much like the Flood was that Covenant priest. Seeing it try to break free from the yoke of his flesh was one of those things that he would never forget, but rather _would_.

"After you, Mr. Gunn," Kasumi said he stepped forward, falling into line beside Emil.

"Just one moment sir. There seems to be an issue with the statue," a security guard said with a gruff voice.

"Is there a problem here?" a charismatic man in a white tuxedo asked, his accent strongly Afrikaan.

"No, Mr. Hock. Just doing a scan," the guard replied.

"I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock," the charismatic man spoke to Shepard.

"I heard a lot about you. Name's Solomon Gunn," Shepard greeted extending his hand, only for the man to keep his hands behind his back.

"And I have heard a lot about you," Donovan replied. "You've been very busy lately, if the extranet is to be believed."

"Sir, the scanners aren't picking anything up," the Eclipse guard said running his omni-tool over the scanner, Donovan looking up at it with a scrutinous eye.

"Hmmm. I don't think our guests would all the way here from Illium just to cause trouble. Do you?" the man asked, the Eclipse shrugging his shoulders in response. "You may pass through, Mr. Gunn, with my apologies." He then looked up at Emil, his eyes landing on the golden visor. "Ah, I see you were able to bring something to accompany my theme. I hope the sudden change wasn't too much of a hassle for you."

"Not at all," Shepard replied. "Big guy here's the best in the buis'. Well-trained, obedient, and damn-near indestructible."

"I'm glad my change wasn't too much trouble to comply with," Donovan said as he took his eyes off of Emil, landing on Kasumi who at the moment was trying to remain unnoticed. "However, I will ask your companion to remain outside. You understand I hope."

"Care to explain why my friend as to remain outside, but my _display _is free to go in?" Shepard asked.

"I don't like the look of your "friend", so she stays outside. Simple as that," the man answered folding his arms behind his back.

"If it makes you feel more secure, then she can wait outside," Shepard responded. "I assume it isn't a problem that my other guest has his sidearm with him. Fighting bare handed isn't very elegant, and I wouldn't want to give people the wrong idea what it is that we do."

"As long as he doesn't cause any trouble, neither of you will be asked to leave," the man replied as he turned to the stairs. "Good to see we're not going to have a problem. Enjoy the party," he finished as he headed into his house.

"Well, that didn't go as expected," Kasumi sighed as the group walked off the side, out of earshot from the guards who were bringing the statue in through the side entrance.

"Any idea why he'd sent you away?" Emil asked with crossed arms.

"No. We've never seen each other in person. And no one knows what I look like," she answered. "Just watching his ass I'm sure. I can't blame him."

"What do we do now?" Shepard asked.

"We go on with the plan. You'll just do all the talking," Kasumi answered. "I'll stay out of sight and stick with you the best I can."

"What about me? I'm not exactly the most _charismatic _soldier around," Emil admitted. "That and I don't think it would help the heist too much if _I _started asking questions at a high society party like this."

"While I'm staying out of sight, you just _remain _in sight," the thief answered. "The only thing you need to worry about is acting inconspicuous, and finding a way to slip out of the party once we have what we need."

"Okay then. We all know our roles," Shepard said as he and Emil walked up the stairs.

"We'll keep radio contact in case something goes wrong, but try to keep usage to a minimum," Kasumi said as she followed behind the two, disappearing in a white haze of static.

* * *

When the group entered the mansion, they were immediately greeted by the sight of the most diverse gathering of aristocrats any of them had ever seen. Scattered along the walls in clusters were rich people of various age, race, and species, as well as several of their "Fruits". Included in those fruits were works of art they had brought in for display, fancy cars from their respective companies, rare statues abound, as well as the newest security drone types, space ship components, and rare spices from across the galaxy amongst other miscellaneous items that, if you were to ask how much they cost, you probably couldn't afford them.

Like Kasumi had said earlier, there were a few mercenaries on _display _as well. The Blue Suns and Eclipse stood in attendance by their respective employers, or at least who their employers had sent in their place. They mainly stood with their arms crossed, not talking or moving much, average in height with a sidearm at their sides, but nothing else.

Almost immediately, all the eyes in the room fell on Shepard and Emil, the hulking, red-armored mercenary causing quite a few to mutter, since there had been nothing like that in the mercenary business before.

Not wanting to be caught off guard, Shepard strode forward confidently with his arms at his sides, Emil keeping his back straight and his movements coordinated as he walked forward, his heavy-laden steps causing the drinks in the partygoers glasses to shake, reminiscent to the giant monster movies, which in this case, Emil wasn't that far from.

"Well I must say Mr. Gunn, you seem to have made a lasting impression," Donovan said as he greeted Shepard, clearly in a more party-appropriate manner than he had outside, going as far as to extend his hand.

"First impressions _are_ important," Shepard replied shaking the man's hand.

"And I do say, your red-armored companion is a _fine _example of everything a mercenary should be," Donovan stated. "Powerful, confident, and most of all, intimidating."

In response to that last statement, Emil crossed his massive arms across his chest, somehow making himself look even bigger. Of course, his arms were practically as thick as Shepard's skull, so maybe that was why.

"Well then, I'll let you find a place to leave your friend," Donovan said as he turned toward a couple of his guests. "Tell him he's free to anything at the buffet table. There's plenty to go around."

"I'll be sure to let him know," Shepard replied as he led Emil to the side of the room, across from the two Eclipse mercenaries on display with an asari aristocrat, the Blue Suns with a sleazy-looking human aristocrat to his right as he stood at the corner of the room.

The mere sight of a Batarian drew Shepard's attention, since it was their kind that either killed or enslaved everyone he knew. However, he was open-minded enough not to lump every alien of a species together into one whole, so he wouldn't start anything.

The two Eclipse mercenaries, while wearing their helmets, were both human, and identified as male by their structure. For the Blue Suns mercenaries, there was one human, turian, and batarian, all wearing their helmets as well. Each had a simple sidearm with them, as any more and there might be complications.

"_Emil. Think you can do something distract some of the partygoers while Shepard and I do our work?" _Kasumi asked over the radio, making sure that bringing someone like Emil wasn't going to cause a problem. Had the theme of the party not been established, then things naturally would've been easier, but a little challenge kept the game interesting.

"_Don't worry, I'm pretty distracting even when I'm doing _nothing_,"_ Emil whispered back, observing how the other partygoers were still looking _up_ at him, examining his massive frame with a mix of shock and awe. _"Call me when you need me at the vault, and I'll try to slip away."_

"_Got it," _Kasumi whispered back on the other end. _"Maintain radio silence until we give you the call."_

* * *

While Emil stood out and above the other partygoers and their displays, his massive form keeping the eyes of the five mercenaries and their employers on him as they sized up their competition, Shepard managed to slip to the back of the ballroom, down a flight of stairs and down to the vault.

"Very nice. There's more than what I expected," Kasumi said as the concealed wall broke away. The room itself was simple and to the point. There were a few gifts on the back wall, while at the far wall there were a medley of scanners and security measures.

As Kasumi scoped out the vault, Shepard looked to the statue of Saren against the wall. For some reason, it seemed to be mocking him. Almost like it was smirking at him.

"Password protected voice lock. Kinetic Barrier. DNA scanner – Looks like an EX-700 series. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable," Kasumi said as she scanned the vault's security measures.

"This gonna be a problem?"

"Please. Remember who you're talking to," Kasumi said with her hand to her chin. "We'll need to get a voice sample for the lock. You'll have to go chat up Hock for that. We'll have to find a password too," she explained, Shepard's eye being drawn to a red-screened holo-console on the right of the kinetic barrier. "DNA? Child's play. We should find plenty of DNA samples in Hock's private quarters," she added, Shepard's eyes being drawn to a blue-screened holo-console on the left side of the kinetic barrier. "And the barrier? Cut the power. Never fails… if we can find it. Keiji got through a system like this in his sleep. And I'm better. Let's get to it," she said as she headed out of the vault, the wall peeling away before she activated her cloaking device.

* * *

Back in his own corner, Emil could only sigh inside his helmet, thankful that sound was muffled when he chose it to be. Had someone told him before the Halo Ring that he'd be on the other side of the universe at an over-glorified cocktail party playing the role of a "trophy bouncer" he would've said they're nuts. Now, he was just wondering whether or not it would've been better if he'd fallen into the sun.

Of course, he cast those thoughts aside when he remembered that Wynonna had no way of escaping. She was there for him when no one else was, by choice or otherwise, and she was probably the only thing that kept him sane through his tours of duty. Then again, had he made it back to Earth with Master Chief, he probably would've just been placed in cryogenic stasis until the next war, since technically, _Emil _didn't exist. Just Spartan Emil-356.

He was cut out of his reverie a minute later however when he spotted Shepard on the corner of his visor heading straight for Hock.

_This ought to be good, _the human tank thought to himself as he eased himself against the wall to watch.

"Mr. Gunn, I hope you're having a good time," Hock said shaking Shepard's hand. "That scene at the door hasn't soured your evening I hope."

"I understand the security, but who would dare try to break into Donovan Hock's home?" _**Paragon Action**_

"Gunn. In our line of work, we attract a certain element. Few understand the pains we take to keep the barbarians at bay," Hock said in that accent that seemed to drive both him and Wynonna up the wall. "People these days want comfort, entertainment, love. They don't see the galaxy as fragile," he began speaking as he waved his arms out towards the fountain, every conversation stopping as the man made his speech. "They only have to worry about simple luxuries. Why? Because people like – and you – are doing the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning."

"_Like maintaining gravity?" _Wynonna chuckled. _"This guy's certainly got a big enough _ego,_" _she chuckled into Emil's head.

"This party is for us. The cleaners. The support structure for the galaxy's gleeful delusions of peace. May there always be a market for the things we do," he finished, the entire room applauding for the man, though some looked like they could care less.

_Sheep. They're all sheep, _Emil thought to himself, fighting the urge to shake his head, lest he look suspicious in front of a room full of witnesses.

"Enjoy the party, Mr. Gunn," Hock said letting Shepard go, who seemed to be all to happy that he was done there, and was hiding it very well.

"_Hey, Wynonna, could you pull up some files for Terra Firma?" _Emil asked into his helmet. _"I figure if I have to stand like this for however long it takes, I might as well be productive about it."_

"_Those guys? Ugh, they make me sick," _Wynonna gagged. _"You'd think with how far humanity's come, or at least here anyway, that they'd be more open-minded. I can only imagine how bad _Texas _is. Yeesh."_

* * *

After Shepard had talked up Donovan Hock, and Kasumi was able to get the voice sample she needed to forge the password for the vault once they found it, Kasumi came across a hidden panel that led to the kinetic barrier at the vault. After a little tinkering, the barrier was taken down, and she pulled the panel down over it before disappearing in a shimmer of air, a few of the partygoers pooling back into the little alcove a few minutes after the speech had ended.

At the same time, Shepard tried, but failed, to enter Hock's private quarters the old-fashioned way. Seeing as how going through the front door wasn't an option, he decided to take a stroll to the back deck with the panoramic view of the landscape around him. After taking at least _one _moment to enjoy the sights, he spotted a railing that led to the perfect hidden route, leading straight to the private quarters.

"_Kasumi, I found a way into the private quarters. Go to the right side of the back deck and meet me over the railing," _Shepard whispered into his radio.

"_Got it, I'll be there in a flash," _she responded.

Nodding briefly in recognition, Shepard vaulted over the railing before coming to a crouch on the ground, then leaned up against the wall before hazarding a peek around the corner. There were a few Eclipse-hired guards around the hidden alleyway, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. However, without the protective benefits of his armor, all he had to go on was the kinetic barrier generator set on his belt.

Sneaking over to the opposite side of the nearby pillar, he noted at how inattentive the guards were at their posts. Something they wouldn't live to regret.

After hearing the concealed thud of his "partner in crime" landing where he had before, Kasumi appeared in a shimmer of air at the corner of the wall. After using her omni-tool to peek around the corner, Shepard motioned to the one in the back of the formation, the thief nodding in recognition before disappearing in a shimmer of air.

Not wanting her to have all the fun he put his back against the pillar before leaning to the side and taking a shot at the first guard with his sidearm, all three alert in an instant as they began returning fire. Shepard leaned back against the wall and waited for it to stop before setting his weapon for Phasic rounds before firing off more shots, breaking through the first guard's barrier before delivering a shot between the eyes, dropping him where he stood.

Not a moment later after the first guard fell, Kasumi appeared behind the third guard and poked her shotgun in through the range of his shield and unloaded a round between his shoulder blades with an audible crack, dropping him a moment later and causing the second guard to turn and face her.

However, before he could fire his rounds, Shepard flipped his sidearm in his hand so he was gripping the barrel and ran up to the guy. He then slammed the pommel of his gun onto the back of his head and kicked him in the back of the knee, dropping him to the ground before placing a foot between his shoulder blades and unloading a round into his skull.

After the three guards were taken down, both Shepard and Kasumi waited to see if anyone had heard their little scuffle, or if anyone would come after them. After hearing enough nothing to confirm that no one had heard, or at the least, didn't care, the two made their way up to the ledge below the window, Kasumi stopping Shepard from smashing the glass with his gun as she held out her omni-tool.

"Hold on, let me check for any alarms," she said as she checked for any monitoring equipment on the windows. After getting the green light went off, she gave Shepard the go-ahead, smashing the pommel of his pistol into the glass and shattering it like… glass. After brushing away some of the glass, he vaulted over the window frame and pointed his gun down both hallways, one leading back to the party, and the other leading to Hock's bedroom.

"Come on. His private quarters are right through there," she said guiding Shepard over to it, intent on getting whatever DNA she could to bypass the security measures in the vault. After getting the DNA and having disabled the barrier, all they'd need to do was figure out the password, figure out how to get Emil out of the party unnoticed, and get back Keiji's graybox before making a run for it.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the main room, a minute ago when Emil went over to the buffet table and tossed a few mini-quiches into his mouth after lifting half of his helmet up, the sensory equipment in his helmet picked up the sound of gunfire from the back of the mansion, as well as the sound of bodies hitting the floor.

Seeing as how Shepard and Kasumi's vitals hadn't fluctuated too much, he could only assume they were making their way into Hock's private quarters via hidden route. After witnessing Shepard try and fail to get in through the door, he figured something like that would come up.

A minute after having enough quiches proportionate to what someone his size needed, i.e. a dozen since the mini-quiches were pretty small, he decided to walk around a bit, noticing that the partygoers seemed to give him a wide berth. When he made his way to an alcove on the left side of the mansion towards the front, his eyes were drawn to a door across from where he was standing.

"_Wynonna. Pull up the floor plans. I need to know what's behind that door," _Emil whispered into his helmet.

"_Gotcha. According to the floor plan, behind that door is a small lobby-like room before a back room reserved for security staff," _Wynonna answered. _"I was able to tap into the security system and get a lock on three guards. They're all armed with assault rifles or sidearms, but nothing a fully-trained Spartan can't handle."_

"_I see,"_ Emil mused as he thought over his current situation as it was now. The partygoers paid too much attention to him just when he went to the buffet table to get at the mini-quiches, and it just dawned on him now that it would be more difficult than previously thought to get to the vault unnoticed. Especially without a potential warmonger like Hock in the room. _"Wynonna, patch me through to Kasumi, but keep it quiet."_

"_Roger," _she answered before patching a signal through the hidden frequency that she'd been given earlier for use in that mission. _"Alright, there's no one monitoring this frequency. You're good to go."_

"_Kasumi, mind I ask how you and Shepard are doing on your end?" _Emil asked.

"_We've just combed Hock's room and have gotten enough DNA to bypass the lock in the vault. I've already disabled the kinetic barrier, so all we have left is the password, and we'll be good to go," _she stated.

"_I've come across a room leading to the security's staff room, and I'm willing to bet that _someone _will have written the password for the vault down," _Emil stated.

"_Alright then. Once we get back there, Shep and I will go in and check things out. After that, we'll find out how to get you to the vault."_

"_I think I may have that covered," _Emil whispered back. _"I don't think I can get to the vault without drawing too much attention, so if I find anything in the security room, I'll hack into the mansion's mainframe when I'm done and set off the fire alarm or something once you and Shepard have peeled away at the vault's layers. Once everyone's out of the house, I'll sprint over there and meet you at the elevator."_

"_Hmmm… That might be the best option," _the woman said back. _"Oop, gotta go. Seems a few of Hock's guards found the bodies we left in the back."_

"_I'll leave you to your work then, and I'll contact you once I've got the password," _Emil said shutting off the feed. _Alright then. Let's see if those hacking lessons I took from Tali sunk in, _he thought to himself as he interfaced with the door using his omni-tool.

After a second, what appeared to be a green circuit board with ten blue nodes appeared onscreen. In the upper right corner were 32 small green bars, and beneath it were five symbols that resembled locked tumblers with the words **Circuit Locked **in red print.

"Okay… This comes off as a bit…"

"_Odd?"_

"Pretty much," Emil sighed, but then noticed that four of the green bars in the upper right had already run down in four seconds, meaning that it must've been some sort of timer before he got locked out.

Working quickly, he fiddled with his omni-tool until he found out how to move the orange halo-shaped crosshair around the circuit board. When it came over one of the blue nodes, a symbol appeared in dark blue. After scanning over the rest, 8 bars having been expended in that time, he was able to get a lock on five different symbol types; One resembled two sideways **T**s facing one another with their tops, the second resembled a lowercase **c** in the center with a half-circle underneath, the third looked like a sideways tube from an old television he'd heard stories about during training, the forth looked like an upside down **T** hanging from the top of the node with two horizontal lines underneath with each smaller than the last, and the fifth symbol looked like a crow's foot with the three toes pointing up.

Two seconds later, he figured out that he had to match the nodes together and got to work on it. After a bit of matching between nodes, a notice in the upper right corner below the timer that said **Security disabled, access granted **flashed on the screen before it closed off, 16 seconds left to spare.

Not a moment later, the door suddenly twisted open with a hiss, Emil striding into the room confidently towards the three guards present, taking note that the top of his head almost brushed against the top of the frame.

"Good news boys, you've just been relieved of duty," he said in a friendly tone, hoping to avoid conflict. He'd had experience killing other humans before, but it was something he'd rather avoid if he _could_.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be here!" one of the guards said raising his gun at the red-armored giant.

_Oh well, at least I tried, _Emil sighed to himself before kicking the guard's hand, sending the gun into the air with a loud snap before he suddenly delivered a palm strike to his sternum, another crack sounding before he was sent into the wall, clutching his chest in pain.

The next guard raised the butt of his assault rifle and brought it down, or up, at Emil's head, only to get a jarring feeling up to his elbows.

Not a moment later, the gun that had been kicked into the air landed in Emil's left hand. Behind his helmet, a wry smile formed before he grabbed his own sidearm and took aim at the two stunned guards.

"_Double wielding!" _Wynonna cheered as Emil opened fire on the remaining two guards. After peeling away their shielding, he punched a few holes into their chest plates before letting them drop to the floor, only leaving one guard left.

"So, there's just you now," Emil said as he walked toward the remaining guard. "Now, are you willing to talk? Or will I have to kill you too?"

The guard could only grunt as he glared at Emil. The next moment he grabbed a sidearm from one of the corpses and shot a round at Emil's head, only for the shot to bounce back into his own head, killing him instantly.

"_*Sigh* _It's always the stupid ones," Emil sighed.

"_Hey Emil, think you can patch me into the console? It'll go a long way into getting the fire alarm set off."_

"Sure thing," Emil said placing his palm on the console, Wynonna appearing on the back of his hand before she began fiddling with the holographic keyboard.

"_I'll be a minute, maybe three. While I'm at it, see if you can find the password. They may've written it down somewhere, and if not, I can always try to find it myself."_

"I'll see what I can find," Emil said as he looked around. "Oh look a datapad. Let's see what's on here," he cheered taking the little grey, brown-screened tablet in his hand and began reading.

**-Nance:**

**I have that problem, too. So many passwords around here, can't keep them straight. The password for tonight is "PERUGGIA", so it's not even that easy to remember. **

**It's no big deal. That voice scanner means the password's only useful to Hock, anyway.**

**After this party, want to grab some beers? Let me know.**

**-Samuels**

"Well unless Samuel's _wasn't _among the dearly departed, I think Nance will be left hanging," Emil chuckled to himself. He'd _dealt with_ deserters and traitors before, so killing humans was nothing new to him. "Kasumi, are you at the vault?"

"_Shep and I are here waiting for the password. Any trouble on your end?"_

"No more than you and Shepard did on the way to the bedroom," he sighed. "I found a recent datapad with PERUGGIA on it. I'm sending the text over in case spelling is an issue."

"_Huh. That's the name of the man who stole the Mona Lisa. Nice," _Kasumi said happily. _"Alright, once I get the last two layers peeled away, I'll let you know and get to work on the fire alarm."_

"_Don't worry about it. I've already found a backdoor into the mansion's security mainframe and am setting up a dedicated access point," _Wynonna said into the radio. _"When you're done there, I'll get these rich people running."_

"_Ah, that's right, I forgot you had an AI on you. Anyway, it should only be another few seconds. We'll meet you at the vault." _

"Just have my assault rifle at the ready and I'll join you after the alarms go off," Emil said as he got ready to walk out the room, but not before deciding to keep the second sidearm he'd liberated.

* * *

Back in the vault room, after Kasumi had processed the password provide by Emil with the voice profile _provided _by Mr. Hock, the last layer of security was peeled away, giving them a clear shot into the elevator.

"I'll check for security cameras. Go ahead and get dressed," Kasumi said as she made her way into the elevator as she tapped a few keys on her omni-tool. As Shepard stripped out of his suit and back into his armor, taking the time to make sure all his weapons were secured, Kasumi rigged the camera to play on a loop with footage from a few minutes before with a wave of her hand, making it look like there was no one in the elevator much like a Jedi Mind Trick. "There. Now all we have to do is give Emil the signal, and we'll be good to go," she said as Shepard passed her sidearm to her.

The next moment, the sound of a fire alarm went off through the air, accompanied by the sound of people screaming and running for the front door, as well as a… deluge?

No more than a minute later, Emil came down the steps and into the vault, his armor slightly dripping with water before he grabbed his assault rifle from the base of the statue.

"There. Good to go," Emil said wiping a bit of water off his visor.

"Good. Let's get going," Shepard said as he and Kasumi walked into the elevator, Emil closing the door behind him.

* * *

A large door opening later, and the group of three, four if you count Wynonna, came into a large bunker-like room with a high ceiling. Inside it were relics and pieces of art from various cultures and species. All of which were probably priceless.

"_Wooooooow. That's a lot of stuff," _Wynonna awed.

"Yes. Donovan _has _amassed quite a collection over the years, including my partner's graybox," Kasumi said as she looked around. "There's no rush at the moment, so we may as well take the time to look around before moving on. It'll take a minute for my scanner to hone on on Keiji's graybox anyway."

"I was never one for art, but I guess I could look at some of this alien stuff WHAT THE-" he suddenly gasped when he saw the giant green head on the left side of the room. "Is that the statue of liberty's _head_?"

"How did _Hock _get Lady Liberty's head?" Kasumi asked.

She was about to say more on the subject, but a certain orange-tinted AI just had to get her twelve scents in.

"_Oh my god. They finally, really did it," _she said falling to her knees on an imaginary ground. _"You maniac!" _she cried as she pounded her fist onto the ground. _"You _blew _it up. Aaaaah! Damn you! God! Damn you all to hell!" _she cried pounding her other fist onto the imaginary ground.

" . . . You quite done?" Emil asked.

"_Yes, I just couldn't resist,"_ Wynonna chuckled, Emil sighing as he went over to one of the statues, following Kasumi on her impromptu _tour_, starting at the beginning of the row on the left side of the Statue of Liberty's head.

Among Hock's collection was an ancient Egyptian sculpture, a Prothean statue, Michelangelo's David, a krogan statue, _another _krogan statue, a Rachni Queen statue, a pair of ancient Quarian stone tablets, a weird obsidian-like sculpture made of triangle-shaped pieces, a fancy alien vase, yet _another _krogan sculpture, a statue depicting some sort of creature, a Turian sculpture, a scale statue of the Kara which was apparently the Turian's Titanic, some freakish horned creature that looked like it belonged in the realm of fantasy rather than science fiction, and-

"That's the Kassa Lucust. No, THE Kassa Locust," Kasumi awed as they got to the pedestal closest to where Keiji's graybox was, which coincidentally, was right next to it. "The gun that killed two Presidents. Gorgeous. It even comes with a perfect copy too. I'm sure hock won't mind if we borrow these."

A moment later, something _definitely _caught Emil's eye.

"_Oh. My. God. Is this what I think it is?" _Wynonna asked as she looked at a piece of "art" on one of the pedestals. It was roughly spherical in shape, concave on the sides and the back. On the front of the "orb" was a semi-illuminated photoreceptor, and it was mainly silver in color.

"Holy shit, a Precursor Monitor?" Emil gawked looking at the piece of technology on the stand. "I haven't seen one of these since that Halo rig went off."

"So this is Precursor technology huh? It's different than the Protheans," Shepard mused as he looked it over, seeing definite differences in the texture and design. How something like this stayed hidden for so long, he'd never know.

"Wynonna, there's no way in hell I'm leaving this in that nutjob's hands. We're taking it," Emil stated adamantly as he used his omni-tool to hack into the pressure sensor, following the tips that Tali had given him the other day after their first chat.

"While you're at it, do you think you could pick up Michaelangelo's David?" Kasumi asked as she pointed to the large naked statue behind her. "You know. As long as we're grabbing souvenirs."

The next moment she got a strange look from Emil, Wynonna, and Shepard. For Emil you could just _tell _he was looking at her funny, even _with _that visor over his face.

"A girl can dream can't she?" she asked.

"How about you take the guns, then, once this is over, we can perform a rescue mission for that piece of rock later," Emil said as he began hacking the pressure sensors on the pedestal. Being a soldier for so long didn't give him a lasting appreciation of art. "Got it. Now, what to do with this."

"_Emil, I think I can link myself to this and use it like the Forerunner AI did. Can I give it a shot?"_ Wynonna asked.

"How long will that take?"

"_A few minutes. Stall if something happens. I should be able to get it online in a minute," _Wynonna said as she leapt out of Emil's helmet and into the blue eye.

"I'll see what I can do," Emil stated. "I'm guessing _that's _Keiji's graybox," he said pointing to the table where the Kassa Locust was just a minute ago, on it was a silver box-like device with two probe-like objects on it. _How something like _that _fit into Keiji's head, I don't even want to know._

As Kasumi began tinkering with her omni-tool doing god-knows-what, a massive hologram of Donovan Hock suddenly appeared, taking up almost the entire other half of the room.

"Don't bother, Ms. Goto. It's codelocked," he said with a smug grin on his face. "I had a feeling that was you at the door. I knew if it was really you, you'd get through anyway."

"You know me. I don't like to disappoint," said thief quipped.

"I need what's in your graybox, Kasumi. You know I'm willing to kill you for it. I'll admit your skills are impressive. You got into my vault like I'd left it open, and you used your friend to clear the room and give you a head start. But you're still going to die screaming, just like your old friend."

"Kasumi. This vase doesn't happen to bear any real significance to the current mission does it?" Emil suddenly asked.

"No. Why do you ask?" the thief asked, seeing that her omni-tool had almost _un_-codelocked Keiji's graybox from the pedestal.

"Just checking," Emil replied. The next moment he lifted the vase off the pedestal, bringing his arm back before launching it through the air like a stone, the hologram of Donovan's head rezzing as it crashed into the wall behind him, smashing it into hundreds of pieces with a resounding crack. _**Renegade Action.**_

"Nooooo!" Hockcried as one of his rare pieces of art was just destroyed.

"Have I got your attention?" Emil asked smugly.

His only response came when Donovan looked like he was going to have a coronary, his brow furrowing in anger as his eyes narrowed, his face turning red with rage.

"Hah! That shut him up," Kasumi smirked.

"And the best part is, I got that all on film," Emil quipped, tapping on the side of his helmet.

"Sweet. Mind if I get a copy. The look on his face was _priceless_," Kasumi laughed, not even concerned with how the six-foot soldier had lifted what was probably a several hundred pound heavy vase over his head like it was nothing.

The next moment Kasumi's omni-tool beeped, signaling that Keiji's graybox had just been un-codelocked.

"Kill them!" Hock ordered as his hologram disappeared, clearly not happy about how his rare vase had just been shattered into hundreds of pieces.

As the hologram disappeared the doors on the far side of the room opened, four Eclipse mercenaries coming into the room and firing at the three as they took cover.

At the same time the Forerunner Monitor that Wynonna had jumped into suddenly levitated into the air, the "eye" now orange, and it's rising drawing the attention of the Eclipse guards who were stunned beyond recognition.

"What the hell? That thing's moving!" one of the guards cried, revealing that he'd actually seen that piece before.

"I thought it was just a piece of space art," another said.

"Oh yeah? Can space art do… _this_?" Wynonna asked as she turned to the massive statue on the left side of the room, the thing shuddering before it was suddenly hoisted into the air off the floor.

The next moment Wynonna "turned" to the four mercenaries, throwing the massive statue like a Biotic Throw. The four were crushed before they could even raise their guns as the sound of stone smashing and bones breaking filled the air. Oddly enough, the statue held, which must've meant it was pretty damn strong.

"Yeah! Suck it Blue! I mean Red! I mean-! Fuck!"Wynonna cried in agitation.

"Uh, you okay in there? You sound a little off," Emil stated.

"Sorry. Don't know what came over me. Must be some residual programming or something,"Wynonna apologized, the eye on the orb turning pink before returning to orange. The next moment she spotted one last guard from behind the rubble, trying to get a shot at Emil's head while he was distracted. "Eat my laser face!"she shouted as she launched a crimson laser at the remaining guard, cutting straight through his shields like it were nothing. "Damn that was awesome!"

"Man, those Forerunners had some high-octane stuff didn't they?" Kasumi asked. "That guy's shield didn't even stand a chance."

"Ye-heah! That was so… awesome…" Wynonna said excitedly, then slowed. "I feel… sleepy…"

The next moment the Forerunner Monitor fell to the ground, the eye glowing a dim orange as it clattered across the floor.

"What's wrong with her? She out of juice?" Kasumi asked as she slipped the graybox into her pocket, closing the zipper over it so there wasn't a chance she'd lose it during their escape.

"Probably," Emil said as he pulled the metal orb into his arm. "Wynonna, you okay in there?"

"I'm… fine… I'm going back… into your armor now…" she drawled, then appeared on his left shoulder. _"Oooogh. I feel dizzy," _she said as she wobbled around a bit.

"Everything okay?" Shepard asked.

"_Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little winded," _Wynonna answered. _"Or at least as winded as an AI in a Forerunner construct can get after using telekinesis and firing a laser beam from my face."_

"Thing must be out of energy," Kasumi said as she scanned the thing with her omni-tool.

"Come on. Let's move out. Once Hock finds out that his men are dead, he'll send more through the elevator shaft," Shepard said as he got up to leave and run a few steps forward, only to stop when he noticed that while Emil was carrying the metal sphere in his hands, his eyes were glued to the quarian script. "Emil, is something the matter?"

"I don't know… It's just, I can't just leave those tablets lying there," he admitted looking at the ancient stone tablets. "I mean, I only met her a couple days ago, but feels like I'd be betraying Tali if I didn't at least _try _to return them to the quarians."

"I may have a solution for that," Kasumi said as she ran her omni-tool over the pedestal, hacking into the system and typing in a few keys. A few seconds later, a metal case folded over the tablets, then sunk down into the floor, a mechanical whirring sound coming up moments later.

"Where'd the tablets go?" Shepard asked.

"I sent them along the hydraulic rail system under the complex," Kasumi explained. "In case of a fire, or some other circumstance that may put the artifacts and valuables in danger, all these pedestals are equipped with underground transport systems. This should take the tablets to the landing pad on the east side by the cliffs. Of course, we'll need someone to carry the case into the shuttle. That case isn't just for show. They're designed to protect the contents from anything and everything."

"If I can bench press a city bus over my head, with people in it, I think a couple tablets in a ton-heavy case won't be a problem," Emil remarked as he hooked the Precursor Monitor onto the back of his armow via magnetic clamp.

"Where did you say you found this guy again?" Kasumi asked as she followed Shepard to the next room.

"Don't ask now. I'll tell you later," Shepard said as he patched himself into the Normandy. "Joker. Bring the shuttle down. We've got what we need and now we need to make our getaway."

"_Roger that. Where should the shuttle land."_

"I went over the mansion's blueprints before we got here. There's a landing pad to the east. Have the pilot meet us there," Kasumi said as the next door opened.

* * *

The next room they entered appeared to be the beginning of a garage, if the non-elegant concrete-based construction dissimilar to the previous room was any indication.

When the twin doors rose up and a pair of Eclipse mercenaries came out, Shepard, Kasumi, and Emil took cover before the middle phased out, appearing behind one of the mercs and nailing him in the back of the head. At the same time, Emil vaulted over and peeled the other's shields away with his dual wielding, Shepard using his assault rifle to finish the job.

"See you got yourself a second sidearm. Mind if I ask where you got it?" Shepard asked out of curiosity.

"Off a guard in the security room. I tried to get the password out of one of them, but one of his bullets ricocheted off of my helmet and into his head," the Spartan answered.

Before more words could be spoken, another trio of mercenaries came at them from the left, a YMIR coming towards them on the right.

"They're trying to pin us down! Emil! Take down that mech. Kasumi, sneak behind them and thin their numbers," he said before bringing his grenade launcher to forefront. "When I give the signal, hit the deck."

Emil and Kasumi nodded, the prior running at the YMIR when its firing stopped, the latter phasing out of existence a few seconds later, probably making her way toward the mercs on the left. As Emil peeled away the merc's shielding and dodging enemy fire behind the column, Kasumi soon appeared behind the YMIR mech and yanked open a hatch before messing with the wiring. In a flare of blue sparks, the shield broke down, causing the mech to turn on Kasumi and aim its laser guns at her. Before she could get shot however, Emil ran up behind the mech and hoisted him from the groun by his armpits, the thief getting a few rounds from her sidearm off as Shepard took his shots as well.

A few seconds later, Shepard grabbed the launcher from his back and loaded around before taking aim with the curved laser sight.

"Fire in the hole!" he called out as he lobbed a grenade at the mercs, Kasumi having made a clean getaway and was now back at his side.

One of the Eclipse was caught in the blast, but the other two managed to get out of the way and were about to take aim at Kasumi. However, the YMIR mech that Emil was in the process of wrestling with was suddenly chucked towards them, crushing them against the wall, the mech detonating a moment later from the combined effects of the pre-existing damage and jarring impact.

"They're out of the vault. Seal them in!" Hock's voice said over the intercom as a pair of steel doors slammed down over the access way further into the garage.

"Dammit! We have to find another way," Kasumi cursed.

"There's a door over to the right. Let's keep moving," Shepard said leading the group to the right side of the room, hoping to circle around the steel shutters obstructing their path.

When the door opened, they were immediately confronted with a wall on the far side of the room lined with YMIR mechs. Emil was about to grab his assault rifle and blow those things to Kingdom Come, but Shepard put a hand up and showed that the mechs weren't active.

Lowering his weapon, Emil let his eyes trail over the metal monsters before turning the left corner into another stretch of the garage.

"There they are!" an Eclipse merc said as he and three others leapt up at them from behind the line of crates.

"Tch, these guys are everywhere," Kasumi sighed as she ducked into a dark corner, firing off a few rounds before using an Overload on their shields, Shepard firing a volley of rounds from his assault rifle across the group to the right while Emil shot at them with his pistols to the left.

"Where to now?" Emil asked after the last merc dropped to the floor.

"According to the blueprints, there's an exit right beyond that wall," Kasumi said pointing to a stretch of wall on the left side of the room. "The bulkheads have clamped down onto the exits to this room, so we'll have to find another way in."

"You guys just leave that to me and take a breather. I'll be done in a minute or two," Emil said as he cracked his neck and knuckles before making his way over to the door. A second later, he drove his hands into the wall and curled his fingers around the other side before pulling back, a set of fissure marks appearing in the concrete as the armored soldier pulled back until he had _literally _pulled out half of the wall, tossing it to the side before dusting off his hands. "Ladies first," he said politely, motioning to the hold in the wall.

"What the hell are you doing down there?" Hock demanded as the three made their way down the hallway. "Kill Solomon Gunn! Bring the girl to me! While you're at it, get the red one's armor! It'll make an excellent _trophy _to replace the vase he destroyed."

"Not in _this_ lifetime," Emil grumbled as they came to the end of the room, another pair of mercs leaping up at them, only to fall to the group's combined efforts a few seconds later. When another YMIR came stomping towards them, Emil grabbed his assault rifle and ran at it, strafing around as he peeled away at its shields while Kasumi fried them completely with an Overload, Shepard dropping a grenade into it's lap a moment later. Stunned, the group finished it off with a coordinated assault, causing it to detonate a few seconds later.

"_These things remind me of the Brutes we used to fight. Just less stupid, but more rigid,"_ Wynonna stated.

"Don't fight me Kasumi! You know what happened to your _boy toy_ when he fought back," Hock taunted, only earning him a busted speaker via an irate thief and her shotgun.

"Don't you _dare _talk about Keiji like that!" Kasumi growled as the group continued forward, four more Eclipse mercenaries poking their heads over a line of crates at the end of the room.

Shepard and Emil were about to start gunning them down, but Kasumi suddenly appeared behind them and fried their shields with an Overload, then shot them through of holes with the stolen Kassa Locus.

"_Remind me not to make _her _angry,"_ Emil whispered to Shepard as the woman tapped her foot, waiting for the two to catch up. Not that he couldn't take her if it came to that, but it would be more trouble than it's worth. Especially if she hit him with enough Armor-Piercing rounds.

"_Seconded," _Shepard replied as he followed Kasumi to the next door.

"Keep them busy. I'll take care of this myself," Hock said over the intercom as the group entered yet _another _room. Really? Just how big was this guy's garage?

"Gonna blow your ass away!" an Eclipse merc growled as he ran past them, his rifle aimed to shoot.

"Aw shut up!" Emil growled as he tackled the charging Eclipse to the ground before grabbing his neck and pulling upward, tearing the man's skull from his shoulders with a sickening _squelch_, then grabbed the body and raised it as a shield from the incoming hail of bullets before rolling behind cover.

"Oh my god! He killed Kenny!" a merc cried when the head landed beside him.

"You bastard!" a female biotic growled as she lobbed a fireball at Emil from over his cover, bathing him in flame and bringing him to the ground with a loud thud.

"Damn that's hot!" Emil growled before reaching over and grabbing a fire extinguisher, bending it in half and putting out the flames with CO2-based foam with the breach.

"_Emil, your shield held up and took the brunt of the damage, but the armor still took a bit of a hit," _Wynonna said going over the suit's diagnostics, as well as Emil's to be safe.

"Any permanent damage?" he asked as he raised his sidearms and started firing rounds, contributing to the gunfight as Kasumi kept phasing in and out, Shepard pumping guys full of Incendiary rounds from a distance.

"_Nothing really. The gel layer absorbed most of the heat."_

"That's good to hear," Emil sighed as the last merc went down. "Hey Kasumi. How much longer until the end?"

"Just one last push. The landing pad is right past this door," Kasumi answered. "However, I have a feeling we'll be running into our old pal Hock one more time before this is over."

"_Well at the very least, you'll get to blow his thieving ass away," _Wynonna chuckled.

* * *

When the next door opened, the three were greeted with the sight of a massive open-air landing pad. The ocean could be seen in the distance, with the setting sun on the right, and the city in the distance on the left.

It would've been a pretty view to end a dreary mission like this, but the oh-so familiar hum of an eezo engine and the appearance of a heavily armored and shielded gunship coming towards them cut their reverie short.

"Incoming! Get down!" Shepard ordered as he rolled to the left, Emil shielding Kasumi as they rolled to the right

"You _could _have done this the easy way, Goto. Allow me to show you the hard way," Hock sneered over the mic, the man's smug grin visible from even there.

Almost immediately upon finding cover, Hock began firing at their cover with the ship's mounted machine guns. What Emil himself couldn't understand was how the fire wasn't mulching the crates and barrels they were using as cover, but figured it wasn't a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth and just go with it.

"Hey Shepard! Mind telling me what that thing is?" Emil shouted over the gunfire, waiting for a good time to come out of his cover and try to peel away the shields.

"We're dealing with an A-61 Mantis Gunship," Shepard answered. "Their versatile design means you can put whatever you want on them. From what I can tell so far, it's only acting as a low-altitude gunship, so we won't have to worry about it dropping any bombs on us."

"_Emil! __I'm picking up alot of movement in the distance," _Wynonna said monitoring the armor's built-in HUD. _"They seem to be coming up from one of the loading platforms on the far side of the docks."_

Kasumi peeked around the corner of a crate, and, true to the AI's word, there were about a half-dozen Eclipse Troopers and LOKI mechs coming towards them, trying to pin them down while Hock took pot shots at them.

"Shepard, Kasumi, you handle Hock! I'll take care of the small fry," Emil said as he took up his sniper rifle and redirected all shield energy to the front.

As the red-armored Soldier started popping heads left and right, Shepard and Kasumi began using Overload as well as Phasic rounds to bring down Hock's shield. With Hock's attention directed at Shepard and Kasumi, Emil was able to pop a dozen merc and mech heads in the span of a few seconds, only to duck down after Hock fired at him before dropping out of their line of sight.

"_That bastard! He's making a break for it!" _Wynonna growled.

"Hold on, he's coming back," Kasumi said as the gunship came over the ridge after a few seconds.

"Lay down your weapons!" Hock ordered, the blue glow over his ship signifying that power to his shields had been restored.

"_No fair! He replenished his shields!" _Wynonna moaned, just wanting this mission to end already. This job was starting to feel _like _a job, and not just an errand, which it most likely would've stayed had Hock not caught onto them.

"Don't worry, if I can get to the ship, I can take down the shields!" Kasumi said as she avoided fire. "You guys just clear a path and buy me a bit of time. I'll bring in results."

"I'd expect nothing less from a master thief," Shepard smirked, taking out his assault rifle as Emil stepped back and began sniping. "Emil, think you can handle a few more mercs? There's more than last time?"

"Oh? You're going to help with the pests this time?" the Spartan asked playfully. "If one more shows up, we might actually be in trouble."

"Well then, that'll be the one I take care of," Shepard chuckled as he began firing his assault rifle into the line of mercs.

"What did you tell your friend Kasumi? That you're doing this for love?"

"_Shepard, I need a clear path to the gunship. Take out these guards!"_ Kasumi radioed from her cover, planning the best route to take.

**BAM!**

**Rata-tat-tat-tat!**

**BAM!**

**Rata-tat-tat-tat!**

**BAM!**

"You're in the clear Kasumi!" Shepard said as he and Emil had blown the last batch of mercs across the landing pad.

"Alright then! Here we go!" Kasumi said once the majority of the mercs were shot down. Breaking into a sprint, Hock fired on her as she made her way to the heating pipes on the left side of the landing pad. After avoiding a volley of shots and vaulting on top of the pipe, she ran across it before leaping through the air in a high arc, landing on the ship's fuselage with a smirk on her face.

A moment later her omni-tool flashed, a spark of electricity coursing over the ship, causing the shields to begin failing. Hock tried to shake her loose while firing the machine guns in whatever direction he could, only for the thief to hang on. After giving a mock salute at the moment the shields completely failed, she leapt off the ship and back to the landing pad in a crouch.

"Shield's down! Let's tear that thing apart!" Kasumi smirked as Hock regained his bearings.

"_Tch. Looks like we've got more lambs for the slaughter," _Wynonna sighed as another eight Eclipse mercs and LOKI mechs came onto the landing pad.

"Geez, these guys just don't know when to quit," Emil grunted as he pumped a few rounds into one of the approaching mechs, offering a silent prayer to the quarian marine who he'd borrowed the weapon from before blowing its head off, spraying shrapnel and lubricant onto the other mercs.

"The ship's getting weaker!" Shepard shouted as he began firing armor-piercing rounds from his assault rifle, the gunship's armor steadily failing as small fires and columns of smoke began popping up across it's dull grey frame.

"Even if you escape, I'll scour the galaxy for you! I won't let you put all my time and efforts to waste!" Hock roared through the speaker, despite the fact that his ship was smoking and wavering back and forth like a drunken aristocrat.

"Shepard, Emil. How good is your aim?" she suddenly asked the two as they ducked from enemy fire as more mercs and mechs were deployed.

"Excellent," they both answered. Truth be told they _were _fair shots.

Kasumi could only nod before turning her attention to a large fuel canister on the far side of the landing pad. "Emil, get that thing as close to Hock's ship as you can. Shepard, get ready to set that thing off. I'll provide cover for the both of you."

"_Is this because he's been talking smack about you this whole time?" _Wynonna asked. _"That thing's kinda falling apart on its own. We don't really _have_ to go _that_ far. Even if _we _don't do anything, that gunship'll probably take it_self _out through mechanical failure."_

" . . . I know, but…" she sighed sadly.

"You want to put Keiji to rest? An eye for an eye?" Emil asked.

" . . . Yeah," Kasumi sighed. "Shep, it's your call. Either way, Hock's going down. How he goes down is up to you."

" . . . Let's make that bastard pay," Shepard said cocking his sniper rifle. _**Renegade Action**_

"Thanks. Shepard, you just keep that trigger finger ready. Emil, make your way towards that fuel canister on the far side of the landing pad. I'll cover for you along with Shepard until I give the signal," Kasumi stated.

Nodding in recognition, Shepard slinked off to the left while Emil placed his weapons onto the magnetic clips and began crawling across the ground in and out of cover, his new shields covering for his bulking frame when the mercs and LOKI took pot shots at his broad side. One of the mercs was about to get the jump on Emil from the top of a crate, but Kasumi suddenly appeared behind him and grappled with him before chucking him over the edge of the landing bay, Shepard sniping the two LOKI that were about to fire at her exposed flank before she rolled behind cover, waiting for her cloaking device to recharge.

As fate would have it however, she didn't have to wait for that to happen, because the sound of bolts being torn from the ground suddenly droned through the air, the red-armored behemoth at the side of the dock as he tore the fuel canister from the bolts that were holding it onto the floor.

"Rrrraaagh!" Emil roared as he hoisted the fuel canister above his head and got a running start towards Hock. The remaining mechs took aim when the red tank started barreling towards their programmer, but Kasumi blasted them with an Overload before unloading a few shotgun rounds into their chassis.

Halfway across the landing pad, Emil's left foot slammed into the ground, his right arm throwing the fuel canister through the air in a high lob towards Hock's gunship.

At the moment it was about to hit the fuselage, Shepard lobbed an Incindiary grenade through the air into the tank. When the two met mid-flight, it released a massive fireball that consumed Hock through the cracked fuselage, as well as across the craft. The kicker to that moment was when the flaming piece of scrap was thrown back from the concussive force before landing on the ground below, detonating in a massive plume of smoke, fire, and debris.

"There… It's finally over," Kasumi sighed in relief, the familiar hum of the Normandy's shuttle whirring through the air as the white and black craft finally parked at the corner of the landing pad.

A moment later, the sound of another loaing platform nearby them went off, the group drawing their weapons in preparation for another merc, only to lower their weapons when a large metal case with two handles on the sides rose up to meet them.

"Ah, that must be the quarian script you managed to smuggle out," Kasumi stated as the Spartan grabbed the case and began to bring it over to the ship. "Speaking of smuggling…" she trailed off.

"If you can bring in a ship that can actually _hold _Michaelangelo's David, then I'll be _more _than happy to carry it for you," Emil said after setting the case beneath one of the seats in the corner of the ship.

"I'll make the arrangements then," Kasumi chuckled.

"I'm not even sure if she's joking or not," Shepard stated offhandedly.

_"Don't even get me started," _Wynonna sighed. _"Let's just get back to the ship and get some rest. I'm exhausted."_

"I guess I can agree with you on that," Shepard said as he got onto the shuttle.

* * *

A few minutes later, once the shuttle had left Beckenstein's atmosphere, the void of space around them as the planet shrunk into the distance, Kasumi pulled out Keiji's graybox and looked it over before looking to Shepard. With a nod, Shepard pulled up a set of diagnostic screens from the ship's computer, Kasumi placing one end of the graybox into the ship's analyzer.

The next moment, a holographic visor appeared over Kasumi's eyes, meaning that whatever she was seeing would be for her eyes only. All around her the world was black with the occasional streak of light flying by. Beneath her was a set of holographic rings, and before her was her old lover, Keiji Okuda.

"Kasumi. If you're seeing this, it's because I'm dead," the hologram spoke. "The information we found is all here," he continued as he held his hands out, a long stream of digital frames containing a wide variety of information materializing before them._ "It's big Kasumi. If the Council ever got wind of this… the Alliance could be implicated. Kasumi, I… I encrypted the information to keep it safe. I uploaded the encryption key to your graybox, so no one could get the whole package," _he continued as Kasumi began walking down the line of frames, pulling up one of the happier memories the two of them shared together. "But if I'm dead, and if anyone knows about this… then I've made you a target, my love. I'm so, so sorry," he lamented.

"Keiji…" Kasumi sighed with a clenched fist as the memory played in front of her.

_"I know you, Kasumi. You'll want to keep these memories forever. Bu you don't need some neural implant to know I'll always be with you," _Keiji's 'ghost' continued as the memory played. "Please, Kasumi. Destroy these files. There's nothing more I can do to protect you," he sighed, causing Kasumi to run up to him.

"I… I can't do that! This is all that's left!" Kasumi cried as she reached out to Keiji's 'ghost', only for her hand to pass through him.

_"Goodbye, Kasumi. I love you," _'Keiji' finished before the data faded back into reality, Kasumi's arms wrapping around him before she found herself back in the shuttle.

After a quiet moment passed through the ship, the diagnostic screen in Shepard's hand fading away, he saw fit to speak up. Try to help the situation. "Is there any way we can just destroy the information?"

"No. Keiji's a master at encrypting files. He laced the information into his memories," Kasumi said sadly as she looked off into the void, wondering if some part of Keiji really _did _exist in some other world out there. "You can't get one without experiencing the other."

"_Not neces_sar_ily,"_ Wynonna interrupted as she looked over the files. _"While this may be out of the scope of a _human's _abilities, this is right up the alley of a Smart AI like me," _she said as she cracked her knuckles with enthusiasm evident in her tone. The funny thing was that the cracking sound actually came from her hands.

"But the information's been completely laced into Keiji's memories. How will you separate one without destroying both?" Kasumi asked, not wanting to doubt Keiji's skill in his… _former, _field of expertise.

"_Separating data encrypted into other data is like unstringing tangled Christmas lights," _Wynonna answered with a shrug of her shoulders. _"You just have to find the right spots to twist, pull, and part. It may take some time, but I may be able to separate Keiji's memories from the information here. If you're willing to let me try, that is."_

"Well, I don't see why not," Kasumi admitted. "I figure either way, the information that Keiji found will get deleted anyway, and at the best, I'll have his memories back. So go ahead, give it your best."

"_I won't let you down ma'am," _Wynonna said giving a salute. _"Once we get back to the ship, I'll set the data up in an isolated part of the ship's hard drive and begin de-encrypting. If all goes well, the information that Keiji found will be deleted, and you'll get the memories back."_

As the two exchanged words of thanks and such, Shepard and Emil watched this display from the rear of the shuttle, the heavy iron case with the quarian tablets between them on the floor.

"You really think she can do it?" Shepard asked Emil.

"I like to think that she can," Emil answered as he spun the Precursor Monitor on his finger like a basketball. "She's got the benefit of a human mind with a computer-based body. She can be as creative as when she was human, while being as tireless and efficient as a computer."

"Just don't say, _The benefits of both, the weaknesses of neither_," Shepard visibly shuddered. "That was one of the last things that Saren said to me before… a lot of weird stuff happened, and I'm not too keen on thinking that he may've actually been _right _about that the entire time."

"Noted," Emil replied. "Of course, you'll have to tell me about your previous adventures some time. From the sound of things, you've led an exciting life too."

"Emil, you have _no_ idea," Shepard sighed as he looked out into space, remembering how this all started when he saw the Prothean's demise from the once-active Beacon on Eden Prime. A truly horrifying fate, and one he hoped to not see repeated.

* * *

**Thought about how Donovan Hock had all this rare stuff, that maybe he might've had a Forerunner Monitor in his stash. Of course he probably would've thought of it as space art, so he wouldn't know what to do with it aside from set it on a pedestal.**

**Plus, when it's alien stuff, **_**anything **_**could be art. Or at least to humans.**

**P.S.  
On note of the Renegade Actions in the chapter, Shepard isn't a saint. No one is, and I'm trying to make this story more… human. A person can try and be as civil as they can, but every once in a while, they'll give into their dark tendencies.**

**Plus, sometimes a little negative action is the only way to move forward to more **_**positive**_** actions.**


	9. Discontinued Notice

**Like the chapter title and Summary say, I'm abandoning this story.**

**When I first wrote it I knew next to little about Halo and just started playing Mass Effect (roomate's) and Red vs Blue (the Halo inspiration), but despite all that I was a rookie writer and thought I could make a good story with my then-current circle of ignorance.**

**Unfortunately I was wrong, and this story wound up becoming a bit of a flop, despite what funny moments I could make. I find it unlikely that anyone would adopt this story, and the only reason I didn't use Master Chief was because after hearing about the end of Halo 3, I kinda felt like he got the short end of the stick and figured I could use _that _to introduce a new character.**

**Anyway, I doubt anyone will adopt this, but I won't delete it either. I just won't be continuing it anymore.**

**With that, Mass Effect 2: The Sleeping Soldier draws to a premature close. Maybe when Red vs Blue ends and I get the Mass Effect games for myself I may make a Halo(Red vs Blue)/Mass Effect crossover when my sphere of ignorance isn't quite so small, but for the time being, I'm done putting this story on the backburner only to never get to it.**

**Until next time, I will say farewell.**


End file.
